Timeless
by UnrealFox
Summary: Master Tigress raises her head from bowing to the Dragon Warrior after his successful battle with the notorious Tai-Lung, but as Po charges away to find their wounded Master; Tigress begins to question exactly what happened in order for the Dragon Warrior to defeat Tai-Lung with the legendary Wuxi FingerHold. The mystery of chi burns hot in her mind and Shifu has the only answers.
1. Chapter 1

_[ I have been gone a while. Sorry about that. I don't like to make excuses, so I won't. Instead, here is the first chapter of my current KFP Story, that incorporates the events of KungFuPanda 2, as well as KungFuPanda-Legends of Awesomeness. Feel free to read and review at your leisure. Enjoy. ]_

* * *

Kung-Fu Panda

Timeless

_-1-_

_Tigress ... _

The dust was clearing. The air wasn't nearly as thick as I would think it would be. I was expecting an epic struggle; A dynamic battle between two kung-fu juggernauts. But I was surprised to see nothing of the sort.

The battle was clearly one sided. For one man was flawless, the other was flawed. One had potential, the other was an encumbrance. One was destined for greatness, the other was foretold to be something of legend, and somehow all my expectations were false. Somehow each time I made a prediction, it was wrong.

I thought Po would die, and I was wrong.

Instead I was standing among the crowd of the shocked citizens of the valley. Po was gone, but everyone was still cheering. Hailing him as the 'Dragon Warrior', the 'Savior of the Valley', the 'Conqueror of Tai-Lung'... And all those titles were true, but none of them I ever predicted would be so. I was still holding my fists together, wearing a smile that was spawned equally from disbelief, shock and relief. Along with Po, I thought my friends and I would be dead by day break. I thought Tai-Lung was going to slaughter everyone in his rage, in his fight for the Dragon Scroll. Obviously, I was wrong.

But even though I was still taken aback by all that had occurred, no one else seemed to mind. No one else thought to question what had happened here, only moments ago. But I suppose I couldn't blame them, I too was just happy to be alive, and I had to thank Po for that.

I could barely make out the foggy outline of the Dragon Warrior charging off towards the Jade Palace after Master Shifu. My Master, I was completely unaware of his condition. After he fought with Tai-Lung I wasn't exactly sure of Master Shifu was alive or dead, but given my current record on predictions... I would be foolish to think that he had been slain by the rogue Snow Leopard. Shifu, my master and father, was alive... He had to be.

"Tigress?" A voice rang in my ears. I turned to see Master Crane, standing next to me with Viper at his side, and Monkey and Mantis beside her. "Are you alright?"  
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just... surprised is all." I responded, trying not to sound too disgusted in myself for being so useless.  
"I think we all are." Crane sighed, he was usually the voice of reason among us. "Somehow Po was able to single-handedly defeat Tai-Lung, when we... as a group, could not."  
"Yes..." I sighed with Crane. "I would like to believe that we were fighting Tai-Lung on his own field-"  
"Yeah!" Mantis cut in. Mantis was a cut up, a live wire. "That had to be it."  
"Yeah, Tai-Lung was a Master a fighting on top of bridges against girls!" Monkey added to Mantis' ranting. Those two enjoyed finishing each others sentences, and were usually on the same page. But this time they were wrong.

"I would like to believe that too, Mantis. But Tai-Lung was in prison for twenty years... In chains and running non-stop to get to the Valley of Peace, when I- we... met him... He was basically running on adrenaline and rage..." I commented, turning to Master Crane, who was clearly thinking deeply. So deeply he didn't notice all the dust collecting on the tip of his beak; or Viper slithering up his neck to clean him off.

"I was only hit once, but..." Crane paused, touching the feathers just above his sash. "It still hurt. I could only imagine how powerful he would have been at full strength." Crane spoke, looking up towards the morning sun.  
"He was strong." I commented, not wanting to think about the fight.  
"But ... Really, I mean. In order to fight like that, he had to have trained for it. Right?" Mantis commented, leaping from one of Monkey's shoulders to the other.  
"Do we have rope at the Jade Palace?" Monkey thought out loud.  
"We have everything at the Jade Palace." Mantis answered Monkey's question. "Except for Almond Cookies." Mantis then laughed.  
"Dude!" Monkey exclaimed, clearly upset from being reminded that Po had cleaned him out of his treats.

Master Viper erected herself from Crane's neck to meet my eye level. "So, were you scared, Tigress?"  
"I was suspended thousands of feet above visible ground, fighting against a man who I've only heard and read about, on a bridge that was nearly completely destroyed, in the middle of the day after running for hours..." I spoke without even thinking. "If I was meant to be afraid, I'd forgotten to do it during the fight." Viper nodded, smiling. She was clearly impressed with me and my demeanor. But when I paused and thought about it... I actually wasn't afraid. Something about Tai-Lung made me believe that he wasn't actually interested in killing me, or my friends that day. Perhaps it was the coy way he stood and leaned against the uneven bridge with no trouble. Or the way he sauntered towards me with such ease and perfect balance. Something about his body language was telling me that he could have killed me, Viper, Mantis, Crane and Monkey at any moment, but he didn't.

And even during the fight I was still trying to understand him. That was the first time we met, even though we were almost siblings, and I was there to maim him. I wanted to defeat him with my own power and drag him back to my Master as a bloodied, defeated and broken wreck of a man. Even though he was clearly coming to challenge my Master for the Dragon Scroll, I felt as if I were the bad guy. And even still he didn't make me feel as if I were in mortal danger, he was just defending himself. So I fought with all I had.

When I sent him soaring to the depths, I thought we had won.  
When he reappeared before us with his grace and ability, I thought we were at a sudden disadvantage.  
When he attacked Monkey, and dropped him with a single punch. I knew we had lost and it was all over... I was wrong about all of it.

Because Tai-Lung spared us.

"Tigress!" I heard a voice in my ear again, it was Viper.

"Hey, are you alright?" She repeated herself  
I began blinking, was I alright? "Yeah, I think so."  
"Well you looked like you were lost in thought for a minute, are... you thinking about that fight with Tai-Lung?" Viper inquired, with her eyes full of worry and concern.  
"No no... Nothing like that." I was lying. "I was thinking about Master Shifu. I'm... worried about him."

"You?" Monkey leaned towards me, looking deeply confused. "Worried? Are you sure you're alright, Tigress?"  
Did I put my foot in my mouth? Do I actually worry about others? "I-I'm fine, Monkey. Really." I shook my head, once again losing myself in thought. Another question was sailing through my brain and I had no concrete answer for it. How or what do my friends really think of me? Do they think I'm heartless? Do they think I'm weak? Do they still believe I'm a good leader?  
"Well she does bring up a good point." Mantis chimed in, temporarily suppressing my thoughts. "Maybe we should go check on Master Shifu, he did fight Tai-Lung on his own, and ... I mean... he _wasn't_ the one who put this hole in the ground. So he could be in bad shape."

"This ... hole." I turned around to look at the giant blast radius that was still partially smoking with golden steam and essence. "You're right, Mantis... It wasn't Shifu that defeated Tai-Lung today. It was Po."  
"Yeah?" Crane stepped forward, with Viper still draping off his neck.  
"So since it was Po. Then what technique was used in order to make a blast like this?" I questioned my friends, turning to each of their confused faces. "Was Po taught something we were not?"  
"Good question." Mantis tapped his face with a pincer. "But, you think Master Shifu's really going to answer a question like... You know, considering he can answer _anything._"

"Mantis is right." Viper slithered down from Crane's neck. "Master Shifu may be in dire need of medical attention."  
"Or a reprieve from Po." Monkey quickly added with a grin.  
"I think we should go check on him, right away." Viper finished, rolling her eyes while trying not to get too upset with Mantis.  
"But Po should be there already." I interjected, nearly putting my foot in my mouth with redundancy.  
"Yes... And Po isn't his only student." Crane spoke without looking back at me. He was following Viper with a brisk clip. "We should go check on him."  
"But what about the Valley? It's in shambles!" I shouted after the Furious Five in some odd manner of stalling.

Why wasn't I concerned with Master Shifu's health, even though I claimed to be only a moment before?  
Aside from lying; Why was I making excuses?  
Why was I more interested in these craters than my own adoptive father?

With a deep growl, I decided to suppress all my questions and follow after my friends, to find Master Shifu. Praying that he was alive.

Me and the Furious Five reached the Jade Palace in record time. We had clearly arrived after Po, but we weren't very far behind. We couldn't have been loitering in the battle-scarred Valley of Peace for very long. So ... I couldn't understand why Master Shifu and The Dragon Warrior were lying side by side as though they were sun bathing.

"What in..." Mantis half grunted to himself. He only made those noises when he was seeing something his insect brain couldn't comprehend, immediately. Interestingly enough, if I were able, I'd be making the same noises.  
"Uh... Guys?" Monkey spoke silently. "Is it just me or ... am I seeing all this correctly?"  
Crane's beak was hanging wide open, but he still managed to comment. "You mean... _aside from; _the ruined Hall of Warriors, the Missing Dragon Scroll, the scorched floor, disheveled scroll cabinets, mangled, or better yet, broken ceiling, broken and mislodged melee weapons and the scattered remnants of the stairs cascaded all across the hall?"  
"Yeah..." Monkey paused, "Aside from all that."  
"Then yes." Viper cleared her throat, now getting the attention of the Dragon Warrior and Master Shifu. "I believe you are seeing what everyone else was."

The pandas jumped to their feet like they were trying to hide a dirty secret of some sort. Their body language was nervous, like they were embarrassed that we arrived to see them lying so close to one another. I'd think something strange was going on, but I know better than to think that of my Master, and the fat prodigy the Dragon Warrior. But... if I know better, why were they so nervous? I hope they weren't assuming that we weren't going to arrive to check on Master Shifu.

"Oh, hey guys!" Po called out to us, somehow losing his nervous appearance and switching it to his casual... Everyday... Annoying self. "So good you could show up."  
"Yes..." I responded to Po, clearly showing my disregard for his sudden, unconcerned attitude. "Here we are, to check on our Master after such a taxing battle."

Po took a step away, as the Furious Five and I, all approached Master Shifu and knelt down before him.

"Master." All five of us spoke in unison, showing our respect.  
"Ah, please... There's no need for that right now." Master Shifu coughed as he spoke to us. He tried clearing his throat to mask his discomfort and instead immediately broke out into a savage fit of rough coughing.  
"Master!" I jumped up to grab Master Shifu as he was losing his balance. But somehow, Shifu was caught by the Dragon Warrior, long before my paws even reached his kimono. But even still I wasn't able to stop myself from stepping forward, it was a natural instinct for me to move forward, without stopping; and today it was a curse.

I would assume that Po's first reaction is to grab the closest thing he touches, if he senses some type of danger. And his second reaction is to attempt to squeeze it against himself... So, since I decided to show my concern for my Master, I was now apart of a three person group hug, with Master Shifu quite uncomfortably in the middle.

"I... appreciate the concern, but seriously... Put me down, Po." I didn't give him time to respond, and struggled out of his grip instead. Master Shifu fell to the floor on his feet, still coughing but not nearly as hard as before.  
"Yes Po... Your concern is flattering but, I don't believe suffocating a choking victim is the proper way to show that concern." Master Shifu then cleared his throat and began to breathe heavily, clearly showing that he had been greatly injured in the battle.

"Master Shifu, you're hurt!" Viper slithered forward, again her eyes were full of concern.  
"I am fine, Viper." Shifu protested, but he began to cough again when finished speaking. Our Master was covering his mouth with his fist while coughing, a polite gesture. But we, as kung-fu masters, were far too well trained. Even though our Master could conceal the sight, there was no way for him to conceal the scent of blood.

"Master Shifu, please. You're wounded. You need to rest." I spoke, approaching Master Shifu. But again, before I was able to come in contact with my adoptive father, Po somehow managed to cut in.  
"Oh no! Master Shifu! You're hurt! Real bad too!" Po's over-zealous attempt at showing concern were almost embarrassing, if not for the fact that they were genuine.  
Master Shifu released a light sigh, to prevent him from hacking up more of his own blood. "...Well I suppose I may be a bit bruised."

"Bruised?" Master Monkey spoke up, but surprisingly he with held is usual edgy humor. "Master Shifu, you look terrible. I've never seen you so injured..."  
Master Shifu's gaze turned to Monkey, an a small, but warm smile appeared for a moment. "Monkey." He spoke, then dropped to his knees, coughing furiously.

I wanted to start barking out orders, but Master Shifu found his way off the floor and into Po's large arms before I could. Our Master clearly wasn't happy to be hoisted into the air like a sick child, but the sad truth was, the most tender of all of us was Po. Our Master taught us to endure our pain, and to revel in it... However I've never had to endure an internal injury with the symptoms looking as bad as what my Master was going through. Po was furiously shifting his head about the Hall of Warriors, as if he were looking for some place to lay our Master, but the hall was nothing more than splintered wood, mislodged weaponry, broken stone and scorched earth. There was no place for Shifu to rest here.

"What should we do for Master Shifu, guys? He's hurt bad!" Po repeated himself, while my friends looked back and forth at each other.  
"We need to get him to a doctor." Viper spoke up.  
"Yeah, a doctor. And Master Shifu needs a warm bedroll to lay in." Crane added, running through a plan in his own head.  
"Oh right." Mantis also spoke up, leaping onto Monkey's shoulders. "Do we have any hot water?"  
"Hot... Water?" I coughed, trying to understand Master Mantis' train of thought. "Are you... trying to serve our Master, tea?"  
"T-tea. Tea?" Mantis blinked, as if he were remembering something. "Oh right! TEA! Uh... yeah, that's what I was getting at."

I brought a paw to my face, "Tea probably isn't the best solution, Mantis. And Viper... The Valley of Peace is in shambles right now. All the villagers evacuated when Tai-Lung was on the war path."  
"Oh no!" Viper gasped, "Was the Doctor's Office destroyed?"  
I shook my head, "Not from what I saw, but Dr. Goose was at the front of the line when we were evacuating. She wouldn't be back in her office and setting up for another few hours."  
"God, you're right." Monkey interrupted, placing a hand over his eyes. "That woman takes -foooorever, to see you when you're in the waiting room."  
"I know right." Mantis chimed in, in his usual comedic fashion. "And those scrolls lying around... Gah, how old are they really? From the 9th Dynasty or something?"

Viper hissed and slapped Monkey and Mantis across each of their tiny heads. "Hey! Mater Shifu, remember!"  
Monkey was now holding his head with both hands, covering his bald spot from another strike. "Yes, Viper. I remember. So... We need to find Master Shifu a bed, and... some medical supplies. Right?"  
Crane nodded, stepping up to the conversation. "Why not put Master Shifu in his own room for now? The comfortable surroundings will make him feel better while we seek aid."

Shifu sighed, "I'm not in a coma..."

Crane gave a nervous laugh, "Oh right. Sorry Master."  
"It's fine, Crane... And all of you, you shouldn't be worrying so much. I'm sure I'm suffering from no more than a cracked rib, and a damaged chi current... Possibly also a concussion, and a runny nose."  
"Hehe, runny nose." Monkey chuckled, and swiftly received a hard crack across his butt by Viper's tail. "YEOWCH!"  
"It's your own fault!" Viper hissed at the Golden Langur, as the rest of us sighed. This scene was all too familiar... But at least they were taking Master Shifu's advice.

"But," Shifu interrupted. "I believe I will need some time to rest. I will recover from my injuries gradually. So, everyone... Go do whatever you've intended, but allow me to rest for a while first. At least... for an hour or so."  
"Really?" Mantis looked back and forth, clearly confused. "An hour? Why so long Master?"  
I decided to interrupt this time. "Yes Master... Really? An hour? That's a long time to wait for medical aid."  
"That's about how long he'd be waiting at Dr. Goose's." Mantis quipped with a grin, only to be hit by Master Viper again.

"Yes well, even though Monkey is correct. I need that long for my chi to re-align with my spirit, and ... I can use the time to think."  
"But Master?" Po looked confused this time, probably now speaking from his brain rather than his heart. "I thought you said you were at peace? What more is there to think about?"

"..." Master Shifu remained silent, and without answer or usher, Po began to carry Shifu away to his room. The Giant Panda, still looked puzzled, but I was sure that Master Shifu would leave him guessing in his own silence. Master Shifu wasn't the type to suddenly show compassion, or at least... That's the Master Shifu I remember.

Po and Master Shifu vanished from sight, out the Hall of Warriors and I sighed, turning to my friends.

"I'm worried about Master Shifu." I voices my concerns, and this time my friends agreed with me, instead of questioning my concern.  
"I am too," Viper sighed, looking down at the ruined floor. "Master Shifu was barely on his feet when we arrived."  
"Actually he wasn't on his feet, he was on his back." Monkey added, not joking this time. "He must have been in a serious battle."  
Crane clapped his beak while nodding. "He was fighting Tai-Lung. Somehow, even after 20 years of sitting in prison... That guy was far more powerful than all five of us. I mean, look at the damage in this place."

I, and the rest of the furious five, followed through with Crane's request. If there was anything one thing Master Crane was great at, it was attention to detail.  
"See the ceiling?" Crane pointed upwards, at the multiple entry and exit wounds the roof of this temple has suffered. "Not only would we get chewed out for days for doing damage like that, it would also take a substantial amount of force to get through the construction beams and the tiles of the roof. We've had to fight on top of the palace before and those tiles don't break easy." Crane began to explain, pointing at the ceiling's holes.

I was nodding while Crane spoke, what he was saying was true.  
"And all across the floor." Crane redirected our gaze to floor. "The scorch marks... One of Master Oogway's oil burning braziers... But what's strange about them is that there are intense scorch marks further from where the actual brazier tipped over."  
"Yeah..." Monkey scratched his hairy chin. "You would think that the base of the fire would be the most burned."  
"I would." Crane turned and pointed around the Hall. "And these weapons... We all know they're legendary, but they're also on display. They wouldn't be sharpened, because children are allowed in the Hall of Warriors, and it would be tragic if a child was hurt on a weapon that belonged to a legend of the past."

"Well, what about the Sword of Heroes? That's sharp, isn't it? Po said he nicked his finger on the Legendary Blade." Viper slithered over to Crane, trying to make a point.  
Crane turned his gaze back down to Viper. "Viper, you know as well as I do, that the Sword of Heroes only works when it's being swung around. It's magical properties don't apply when it's stationary."  
"Yeah?" Mantis chimed in. "What about the Invisible Trident of Destiny?"  
Crane rolled his eyes, "Yeah? Well can you find it?"  
"Clearly not man, it's invisible!" Mantis retorted.  
"And that's because it's not here..." Crane then slowly began pointing out weapons lodged into the walls and floor of the Hall. "These weapons in the hall, aren't dangerous to anyone. At most, they're valuable, expensive and precious to Master Shifu, but they certainly aren't dangerous, or at least not to a limp touch."

"So..." I opened up to speak again. "All the weapons stabbed into the floor, you think are a show of Tai-Lung's strength? We can all do that, Crane."  
"Well I'm well a ware of that, Tigress. But, the point I'm trying to make is this..." Crane approached the Sacred Moon Pool, pointing at a large one handed blade. "This weapon is different from the rest... I can feel some strange power emanating from it, even though I know it's just a plain sword."

"But... It's just a plain sword!" Monkey spoke up with his version of a new revelation.  
Crane sighed, ignoring Monkey. "What's strange about it is that... I can tell this weapon has some strange power put into it, but... I don't know what it is."  
Viper slithered over to Crane and the sword to smell at it. "Crane's right, I can tell there is energy here, but... I don't know what it is either. How did this happen?"  
Mantis leapt off of Monkey's shoulder and began poking at rubble around the Hall. "Hey... Is that the same energy that's coming off these rock pieces? Because all these rocks seem to be empowered too ... Some how."

I dropped to a knee to get at Mantis' level and picked up a few fragments of what was clearly the front stairs of the Hall of Warriors. I could feel it too. This energy that everyone else was talking about. It was chi, clearly... But, I was apparently the only person who knew that, since... No one else said it. I picked up a few broken shards of stair in my paw, and rolled them about, as if I was looking for clues to a good mystery. These stones were nothing but rubble but... There was clearly chi burning across the surface of each stone... As if the original rock this came from was destroyed with chi.

"I'm not really sure what it means." Crane turned to everyone. "But I do know this has to do with Master Shifu, Tai-Lung and Po."  
"Po?" I stood up, dropping the rocks in my possession and dusting off my chest. "I wouldn't think that Po had anything to do with all the latent energy still present after the battle."  
"Oh?" Crane turned to me, looking interested in what I had to say. "Well I'm no Master at reading minds. So, you want to fill me in on how you know this?"

I paused, "Well... I don't. But... Really. Po? You think he had anything to do with this? Master Shifu and Tai-Lung were the only fighters here."  
Mantis jumped up into my open palm. "The whole time? What if he appeared at the end and started shooting power everywhere?"  
I turned my gaze down to Mantis, glaring at him. He got the hint.

"Heh right... Stupid idea." He admitted, then jumped back down.  
"Okay Tigress, I understand that you don't see the same power and skill in Po as... Master Shifu does. But, he _did_ defeat, Tai-Lung." Crane spoke while re-examining the sword in front of him.  
"How are we completely sure he did, Crane?" I retorted.  
"What?" Crane replied, confused again. "What do you me-"

I interrupted. "How are we all so sure Po actually _killed_, Tai-Lung. I mean, Po clearly is the Dragon Warrior of Legend, and he did somehow manage to best Tai-Lung, but... Did he really know what he was doing at the time? And how do we know that Tai-Lung didn't just... _give up?_"  
Viper slithered towards me a little, sitting up. "How can you say that? How? Or... really, Why would Tai-Lung just... _Give up?_"  
"Yeah," Monkey added in, "Tai-Lung was practically at the finish line. Why would he give up after all this time?"

I sighed, looking down at my feet amongst the rubble. "Maybe... Tai-Lung discovered what the Dragon Scroll truly was..." I wanted to whisper those words, but I didn't. I couldn't. I didn't even have to look at the faces of my allies. I knew they were all changing from confused and concerned to disappointed and hurt. We all trained for years to be the perfect warriors in our respective styles of Kung-Fu, but... only to discover that all that back breaking training, exercise and conditioning was for nothing. That hurt deeply.

"Maybe Tai-Lung wrestled the Scroll from the Dragon Warriors hands, and gazed upon the most sacred of all the Scrolls of Kung-Fu and discovered that what he was fighting and dying for... was a fraud." I turned my gaze back up to everyone, who was looking as depressed as I figured they would be. "Master Oogway was a mysterious man, but he was never a cruel man. Even still... He said and did things that none of us could understand, even after days and weeks of contemplation."

"Tigress is right." Mantis chimed in. "I always thought Master Oogway was a lunatic until I actually came to the Jade Palace. I hardly ever understood his riddles."  
"Nobody understood his riddles... I mean, I was the closest to Master Oogway but I was left scratching my head so long I developed a bald spot."  
Mantis began to laugh, "Is that why you have that?"  
"Ofcourse! What? You think my entire species is bald?"  
"Man... Who'd a thunk it."

I sighed, but smiled, looking over to Crane who didn't look very impressed with the situation. "So, Master Crane. You assume there's something going on that we, the Furious Five, are completely ignorant to. Correct?"  
Crane nodded. "Yeah. That's exactly how I feel. I think we, the Furious Five, are actually being kept in the dark on some new Kung-Fu secrets."

"Well then..." I turned, to look out of the Hall of Warriors, out to the afternoon sky. "Then I say we go visit our wounded Master and ask him directly."


	2. Chapter 2

-2-

_Tigress..._

Somewhere in-between, leaving the Hall of Warriors, and going to find Master Shifu. My friends and I came across Mei-Ling and Po, talking amongst each other on the stairs in between the Hall of Warriors, the training ground.

"Mei-Ling?!" Crane gasped, not planning on seeing a face from his past.

"Oh Crane!" She nearly jumped out her fur with excitement. "I've been looking all over for you!"  
The two, respective, Masters collapsed into each other in a form of a non-sexual, but completely lustful hug. Complete with nuzzling and massaging. Without even turning my head, I could tell that Viper, was twisting herself into a jealous coil. Additionally, Mantis and Monkey were quieter than the dead, so I knew they were either gawking in amazement, or just waiting for the right moment to say something crass, childish and hilarious.

So, I loudly cleared my throat to interrupt the sensual hugging. "So... What are you doing here, Miss... Mei-Ling?"  
Mei-Ling stepped off of Crane, with loose feathers in her neck, cheeks and tight shirt. "I was here to find the Masters, the Furious Five. I have urgent news."  
Viper shook her body and tail as if she had a shaker on the end of her tail and a hood to threaten people with. "You may want to get the feathers out of your fur first, honey."

"Oh?" Mei-Ling looked down at herself, and began picking the feathers out. "Oh, you still molt in the presence of pretty girls, right Crane?"  
I wanted to clear my throat again, but Viper spoke long before any of us had the chance to react.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you here to make jokes? We _are_ in the middle of a crisis here, and we don't have time for distractions, Miss Mei-Ling."

Mei-Ling, surprisingly, straightened herself up and stood tall, even though Viper was clearly not happy with her presence.

"My apologies, Honorable Master." Mei-Ling placed her paws together and bowed before the five of us. "My name is Mei-Ling, and I've come to report that Tai-Lung, the dangerous Master of Leopard Style Kung-Fu, has escaped Chorh-Gom Prison a-"  
"What?!" Viper nearly hissed at the new comer. "We already know he's escaped. He's already been defeated. You're a few days late..."

Mei-Ling raised her head with a confused look on her young face. "He... was... defeated? Really? When? This morning?!" Mei-Ling spun around to gaze down at the ruined Valley, gazing upon the hole that was left behind during the battle between Tai-Lung and the Dragon Warrior.  
"Actually yeah, this morning." Monkey cut in.  
"Yeah, we were half way out of the Valley, before the first bell even rang, and all of a sudden... Boom!"

"Boom?" Mei-Ling questioned.  
"Boom." Mantis added.  
"Boom!" Monkey repeated.

"She gets it..." I sighed, and took all the attention away from, what was clearing going to be a broken record. "Alright, Miss Mei-Ling. We appreciate your concern, but as Master Viper mentioned earlier... Tai-Lung has already been... Dealt with."  
The brown Mountain Cat turned to me, and her eyes began to grow wide, and a half open grin began to slide across her lips.

"Oh my...! You're Master Tigress of the Furious Five!" Mei-Ling clasped her paws together again and leaned towards me.  
"Uh... What?" I barely responded, while leaning away from the new, and very strange, feline.  
"You're Master Tigress!" She repeated herself.  
"I've been known to go by that ... Yes. Why?" I tried not to push her away, but every piece of fur on me was standing on end, tingling with creepy vibes. "What of it?"

"Oh well." Mei-Ling coughed into her fist, straightening up again. "Well, you're my idol, Master Tigress. You, and the rest of the Furious Five, are what me and my students aspire to be at the Sun-Lo, Kung-Fu Academy."  
"Sun-Lo Kung-Fu Academy?" I repeated her, trying to figure where I've heard that before.  
"It's where I'm from Tigress." Crane spoke in a nervous tone. I turned to him, to see Viper coiling around his throat in a very possessive way, and her grip only got tighter when Crane mentioned that he and Mei-Ling were from the same town. It's not like she didn't already know that... But jealously doesn't leave much room for rational thought.

"So, I see... So..." I then found myself leaning back again, at at least a 30 degree angle while Mei-Ling was matching me by leaning forward as I tilted away. "...What business do you have with us? If you're not here for Tai-Lung, then... What are you here for?"  
"Hmm..." Mei-Ling paused and thought to herself, straightening herself for the third time in five minutes. "I guess if there is no crisis, I should probably return to Sun-Lo."

"No wait!" Crane squawked, walking over to Mei-Ling, while still wearing his murder collar. "Don't leave so soon. You can help with the clean up."  
"What?" Viper hissed, "She's not interested in cleaning up. You heard what she said Crane, she's the Master of a whole school. She needs to go home... And return to her job."  
"Oh, I don't mind." Mei-Ling replied, with a big, dim-witted smile on her face. She reminded me of Po a little... since she was completely oblivious to Viper's resentment of her.

"You don't?" Mantis laughed. "A woman who doesn't mind cleaning is my kind of woman."  
Monkey started to laugh too but covered his lips with a hand as he did so, to not embarrass himself in front of the lady, although... As I quickly expected, Mei-Ling didn't take offense.  
"I love to clean." Mei-Ling spoke with a glowing smile on her face. "Cleaning is a very essential part of Physical Education, and it teaches, organization, patience and tactfulness. It's a part of the training regiment I organize for my students in Sun-Lo."

"Whoa, Really?" Monkey finally stopped giggling. "Master Shifu usually has Palace attendants cleaning up around here."  
"But-" I interrupted. "We're supposed to clean up our own rooms."  
"Yeah-" Mantis, then interrupted me. "But the servants are the guys who bring in new Training Dummies, Link Chain, Flame Oil and repair all the holes that come from our heavy training."  
Crane nodded, "We do destroy a lot of training dummies, don't we?"  
"We?" Monkey laughed, "Tigress is the one who does it the most. I remember that piece that hit Po in the face!"  
"Oh yeah!" Mantis began to laugh.

Then, as if a thunder clap rang out overhead, all of us stopped talking amongst ourselves and turned to Po, who was standing a few feet behind Mei-Ling and further down the stairs. I was surprised he'd managed to stay quiet for so long... But, as it actually turned out. He wasn't quiet, no one actually heard him speaking.

"Oh. Hey guys, glad you noticed me..." Po was frowning, and clearly showing he was feeling rejected. Which Mantis, Monkey, Crane and Mei-Ling apologized for. But... I held my tongue, along with Viper. Although, I'm more than certain Viper was keeping quiet because she was still, actively, jealous.

"Po." Crane stepped forward, patting Po on one of his large black shoulders. "When did you run into Mei-Ling?"  
"After I took Shifu to his room. Which, by the way... is _awesome!_ So, I was going to go check on my Dad in the valley, cause it must still be dusty and dirty down there from the battle but you know... I ran into her along the way. And I was like '_Whoa, Hey Lady. The Furious Five hang around here. I think you need a pass to wander the grounds'_ But she said she was a Master with urgent news and was asking about you guys, so-" Po began talking, flooding everyone's ears with a years worth of explanation to a two part question.

Knowing that it would take forever for Po to finish, his version of a complete thought, I decided to direct my attention at Mei-Ling instead of hoping to hear anything from Crane. If anything, this would distance Mei-Ling from Viper.  
"So... Mei-Ling. If you're planning to help, you may as well follow me. There's plenty of work to do in the Valley. Many people need help moving back into their homes."  
"I would be honored to help!" Mei-Ling accepted my offer of manual labor with a very bright smile on her face. It was hard to believe that anyone considering themselves a _Kung-Fu Master_ could be so happy.

"Mantis, Monkey. You're free to follow if you'd like. Otherwise, you can be filled in on the wonderful world of the Dragon Warrior and whatever delusions he decides to amass in his own confused head."  
"You said a mouthful." Mantis grinned and patted Monkey on the head. "So... Whaddaya say buddy? Ready to go do some heavy lifting for charity?"  
Monkey paused, looking up, then down... then left and right for no apparent reason other than to check his corners and turned to Mantis and shook his head. "Nah... I'm gunna stay here and see how red Viper's scales can get. She's cute when she's mad."

"Gah!" Mantis gasped and jumped away from Monkey. The Golden Langur barely had time to question why his friend escaped his presence before the full force of Viper's wide mouth suddenly clamped down on top of him. "Whoa!"  
"Oh how cool!" Mei-Ling squealed in excitement. This was clearly her first time outside in a long time.  
"Uh..." I swallowed hard. "I'll... be down in the Valley. You guys can show up whenever you want."

"Uh... Yeah, I'll be here, Tigress. No need to worry!" Mantis scratched his tiny head, clearly confused at the undertaking that he was forcing himself to deal with. For no apparent reason other than, _why not_, Viper decided to swallow half of Monkey's body. Monkey, was sitting idly by, probably debating on freaking out, poking around or going to sleep and... really in a situation like that, he may as well just stand still until Viper finds a spot too wide for her mouth, and edges off of him. Crane, was clearly looking uncomfortable since his snake necklace decided to cannibalize someone only two feet from him, and all the while... Po was still talking. It was a classic case of _'The Same Thing Happens Every Day'_, and I wanted to escape.

"Come, Mei-Ling." I stated, and began walking. And like an obedient cat, Mei-Ling began to follow me, without question.

My original plan to find and interrogate Shifu had to be temporarily halted since no one who wanted to go with me remained. And the only person that was here was probably more interested in the color of the sky, and why it's that color, aside from anything that had to do with us, or our problems. Regardless, I did have an obligation to the people of the Valley. The people I've been thanklessly protecting ever since I was a teenager.

A lonely, young, confused teenager... Looking for a friend.

It actually didn't take very long for Mei-Ling and I to reach the Valley. Considering that we didn't have the Dragon Warrior in toe, and no distractions to slow us down, we arrived just in time to see a large majority of the citizens had already returned to their homes and were attempting to pick up the city by themselves.

"Well, we're here." I spoke, turning to Mei-Ling who was looking around in wonder, at the destruction of the final battle.  
"Wow... There's... not all that much damage. Is there?" Mei-Ling stated in a bit of an off-tone, while scanning the ground and surrounding buildings.  
"Not necessarily, no." I replied, "But there is something strange about the air here that makes this small battle, seem like a much larger problem."

I turned to look at Mei-Ling, who had somehow managed to get past me and all the way towards the giant crater left behind when Tai-Lung was hit with the Wuxi Fingerhold.  
"Do you mean all the latent chi remaining on the soil?" Mei-Ling said while sifting through some loose dirt with her gloved paws. I... was actually impressed that she knew of chi and how to actually detect traces of it. Who did she learn this from?

"Um... Yes." I responded, trying to hide my shock. "The... chi remaining has me confused. Apparently the Dragon Warrior is the one who left all this energy behind but... It doesn't feel right."  
"Yes, I can tell..." Mei-Ling was grinding dirt between her thumb and forefingers while crouching. She looked as if she was scanning for clues or something, while really, we were only here to help the civilians.

"Something," She began, "About this energy is just unnatural. It's... both untamed, and unfocused. Like a talentless fledgling somehow managed to pull off a high focus chi ability. But... that can't be."  
"What?" I coughed, "You... think someone of divine skill pulled this off?"  
"Well... Yeah?" She responded. She turned to look in my direction with a deeply confused look in her eyes. "You said the Dragon Warrior did this right?"

"Yes, he did. But the Dragon Warrior is _not_ skilled. He's ... a prodigy, but he's certainly not capable of achieving such heights of chi mastery." I was talking by the skin of my teeth. I knew nothing about chi, or what it should be called when referring to it's multiple tiers of ability. But apparently I wasn't far off with my assumptions.  
"He's... not!?" Mei-Ling stood, apparently so she could fall. Because she fell backwards onto her, incredibly small, butt. "But... How did he defeat, Tai-Lung? Tai-Lung was Master Shifu's greatest student, almost like his own so-"

I raised a paw to cut her off, sighing deeply. "I know."  
"Then... How?"  
"I... don't know." I sighed again, looking away from the Mountain Cat. "I'm not exactly sure how Po was able to defeat, Tai-Lung... Tai-Lung was, indeed, Master Shifu's greatest student... and if anyone should know... It should be me."  
"You?" Mei-Ling stood up, and approached me. "May I ask how?"  
"Because... I..." I sighed for a third time. "I... am, or was, supposed to be Master Shifu's greatest student... I was supposed to be like his second child, I ... was supposed to be the Dragon Warrior. But... I'm not."

"You...?" Mei-Ling was full of partial responses and surprise. "But you're Master Tigress! You're the greatest female Warrior the land has ever known."  
"Am I?" I didn't look at Mei-Ling. I felt a little ashamed of myself, for thinking so lowly of Master Shifu's prize student. But, I couldn't see how I wasn't supposed to.  
"Well, aside from Master Viper, you are." Mei-Ling took a step forward and placed one of her gloved paws on my shoulder. It only took a stern look to get her to back off.

"Master Tigress!" A voice rang out from behind me. Both I and Mei-Ling turned to see who it was, and... I was forced to sigh for a forth time in less than five minutes.  
"Oh, it's the Dragon Warrior!" Mei-Ling clasped her paws together, instantly losing all her interest in me and shifting it towards the panda. I wasn't necessarily thrilled to see him since I was still trying to figure things out but, I didn't completely mind his presence. It would at least distract Mei-Ling, for a while.

Without even waiting to see what the Dragon Warrior wanted, I turned and began to approach the people, the original reason why I came to the Valley instead of seeking out Master Shifu. Unsurprisingly, all the people within the Valley were talking about the Dragon Warrior that saved the Valley of Peace. All of their lips were moving with doctored tales of the battle between Tai-Lung and the Dragon Warrior in incredibly colorful and, for the most part, falsified ways. I walked through town, asking if I could aide anyone, and there weren't any tasks available for me.

A man, probably one of a thousand pigs who was clearly having difficulty lifting his bags, told me not to bother, and continued to chatter to his very young son about how the Dragon Warrior first arrived in the Valley wearing a cape... I instead, attempted to help a short goat woman push a large section of brick and mortar out from in front of her doorway, and she actually insisted that I leave it where it was, so she could remember the day the Dragon Warrior defeated Tai-Lung... The story wasn't false, but the things she would say about the rock, clearly would be, and so, I was forced to move on.

The habits of the people in the Valley have always been strange, and the rate at which their interests change faster than I really care to pay attention to. But, I didn't actually expect such an outrageous rise in Dragon Warrior fame. However... the man he defeated was, Tai-Lung... Basically the best Kung-Fu Warrior since Master Shifu and Oogway, so ... what I'm seeing in this Valley probably isn't even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Po's growing fame and possible, fortune.

Without noticing, I came upon Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop. Mr. Ping was a legend all his own. He was a man, whom, no matter the situation, would figure out a way to recommend noodles, as the perfect dish to solve or at least... make you forget about it for a little while. And at a fair price. I rarely ever ate at Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop, however we have had his food delivered to the palace before. And when we did... I can say that I rather enjoyed his cooking. Or rather, I'm pretty sure it was his cooking.

I entered the Noodle Shop, which wasn't particularly open for business, as of yet, but there was plenty of bustle in the kitchen. Mr. Ping, a small white duck with a quick fierce cleaver, was wasting no time in getting his cooking fire's burning, his wok's stir-fry hot and his kitchen ready to serve food in new and delicious ways. He probably wasn't expecting to see someone like me walking in, but on the reverse. I wasn't actually expecting to catch his attention either.

"Oh, Master Tigress! Please come in, come in! Sit down, have a seat anywhere you like." He stormed out of the kitchen, covered form head to toe in flour.  
"Thank you, Mr. Ping. But... you are aware you're covered in flour... Right?" I sat at a random table, fairly close to the rear of the dining area, which was actually very close to the cooking area.  
"Oh dear girl. A lot of work goes into making fresh noodles." The duck laughed as he returned to the kitchen and began cutting furiously at his fixins.

I sniffed at the air, for a moment, assuming smells were free. "So, Mr. Ping. How do you feel about, Po, the Dragon Warrior? Are you as excited as everyone else?"  
"Oh Po?" I heard Mr. Ping's cleaver land into his cutting board. "Oh, I couldn't be more proud of my little boy." He spoke with a big smile on his flour coated duck bill.

I nodded slowly, "Yes... he, turned out to be something else, didn't he?"  
"Yes, he did. But... Po is still far from being a man. He's young and foolish, I just hope that all this attention doesn't go to his head." The duck spoke over the whistling of a large boiling pot.  
"Mhmm, I agree with you." I verbally agreed, but was also nodding my head. Po was immature, but... even with his immaturity, lack of skill and ignorance for chi, he was still able to completely blow away Tai-Lung. That, I couldn't wrap my mind around.  
"You see, Po isn't a disciplined as Shifu's boy was. Shifu is a strict man, and he brought up a very stern and tactful boy. Although, I also think Shifu's endless training and discipline may have driven Tai-Lung mad when he didn't become the Dragon Warrior. He really messed up the town good that day... Then he was sent off the prison... Hmm, that wasn't a very good day for business."

I raised an eyebrow, thinking back on the day Tai-Lung destroyed the Valley for the first time. I obviously wasn't there, but I'd heard so much about that day from Master Shifu and Master Oogway that I could make it sound like I was right there throughout the entire event.

"Tai-Lung was a proficient Kung-Fu warrior. He was probably the best of the best." I spoke out loud, but mostly to Mr. Ping. I was gauging his responses since I wasn't exactly sure how he felt about his son, or Tai-Lung. But I didn't want to run my mouth and offend anyone today. "I wasn't around when he was still young... and powerful, but I met him the day he was defeated by the Dragon Warrior."  
"Oh?" I could hear Mr. Ping cutting up something else while still managing to maintain a conversation with me. "Was he as impressive as you assumed he would be?"

"Im-Impressive?" I tried not to cough. What was he doing asking a question like that? "I... don't see what you mean?"  
"Well my dear. Tai-Lung is practically your _older brother_ and predecessor. He was the boy in the palace and living the exact same existence that you are living, and when you met... It was the first time you could get a real impression of him that wasn't delivered through someone else's mouth."  
"Oh... well..." Mr. Ping was right. I had never seen Tai-Lung with my eyes before, and... at first, I was intimidated by him. He was an incredibly talented Kung-Fu Master, I could tell just by looking at him, but I was also interested in learning more about him. He was my predecessor, and could tell me things about Kung-Fu that Shifu probably never would.

"Well..." I finally began to respond. "Tai-Lung was definitely more than I expected."  
"Yes? How so?"  
"First. He wasn't eight feet tall like everyone claimed he was. And he didn't have a glorious mane like everyone claimed he had." I began listing off things that I'd heard in rumor. "His eyes weren't red, his fangs weren't sharp like daggers, and he didn't speak in a demonic tone."

Mr. Ping began laughing, "Oh my. Were those the stories you heard about Tai-Lung?"  
"Those were _some_ things I heard about Tai-Lung. All untrue. He wasn't eight feet tall... He was about six foot tall, and his mane wasn't flowing like a lions. It was braided down the back of his head. His eyes weren't red, they were golden and his fangs weren't dangerous. Probably sharp, but not like daggers and... heh, his voice? It was smooth, not demonic."  
"So he WAS impressive? Impressive enough to challenge the great and powerful, Master Tigress?"

"Are you kidding?" I laughed, casually. "He was impressive enough to _defeat_ the _Great and Powerful, Master Tigress._ Along with the rest of the Furious Five. It was five to one, and Tai-Lung managed to tear through all of us with little effort. I couldn't imagine how he did it."  
"He was full of anger and hate, Tigress. You shouldn't feel ashamed in yourself, or your ability." The elder duck told me, while clanging around bowls and silverware in the cooking area.

"I... I don't?" I tried to tell myself, out loud. "I... do don't I? But no, Mr. Ping. Tai-Lung wasn't full of hate. He wasn't an evil man."  
"Ah, I didn't say he was _evil_. I merely said he was full of hate. He _did_ just break out of prison not long before running into you and your friends. And he was still upset with Shifu and Oogway."  
"He... " I was going to start arguing. But... Mr. Ping was right. "He... was. Wasn't he? But... how are you so sure about all this?" I turned to Mr. Ping as he exited the kitchen with a bowl of steaming noodles in his hands.

"The truth is in the noodles girl." Mr. Ping said with a smile. "But please, Master Tigress. Don't take my word for it. Taste the soup and open your mind. You will find all the answers you're looking for."

He set the steaming bowl in front of me, and turned to walk back to the kitchen to ... do more kitchen things. So now, I was staring down into a bowl of noodles, broth and green onion pieces... I usually never ate anything like this and reserved meals that weren't tofu and rice to ... special occasions. But if Mr. Ping wasn't going to charge me, it would be incredibly rude to leave without eating the meal he had prepared for me. I was looking down into the bowl, back at my own reflection, back into my own angered, and confused face. Was... I wearing that expression all the time?

I raised a paw to my own cheeks, feeling how tight the muscles in my face were. I suppose I was confused, and angry. But It's been years since I'd last looked at my own face without doing first aid to it. The onions swam around in the broth as I was examining my own visage, probably only getting colder the longer I sit and stare at it. So... Let's eat.

I reached for the silverware but... It was actually no where in sight. Mr. Ping forgot to bring me something to eat this meal with. Did he really expect me to slurp this whole bowl up like the Dragon Warrior does? I turned to call for Mr. Ping, raising my paw and calling out to him, but apparently the sounds of the kitchen were too loud for me to catch Mr. Ping's attention. And the meal certainly getting colder by the moment.

So, with another deep sigh, that I seem to be really good at doing lately. I took the bowl in both my paws and raised it to my lips. _"Itadakimasu"_ I whispered to myself and consumed the meal... feeling something triggering in the back of my brain as Mr. Ping's last words began to echo in my ears.

"_Taste the soup and open your mind. You will find all the answers you're looking for."_

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / /  
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

_All the answers I was looking for... I opened my eyes, after drinking all of the soup, noodles and vegetables in the bowl, only to see that Mr. Ping had somehow left, and shut down the kitchen for the night. I became flushed with embarrassment since I had somehow blanked out and been left inside of Mr. Ping's shop all night without noticing or hearing him leave... That wasn't a very good sign for me, that meant I was slipping somehow... or going insane. _

_But the latter was probably the correct answer, since I just saw Tai-Lung charging past the store._

_"Tai-Lung?!" I didn't hesitate, and quickly broke out of the Noodle Shop and made chase after the Snow Leopard. He was running at break-neck speeds through the streets of the Village, and I actually lost sight of him a few times even though I could swear I was right on him._

_"T-Tai-Lung! Tai-Lung wait!" I shouted after him, and without stopping or looking back, he shouted back at me.  
"Don't try and stop me, Tigress! You understand exactly how I feel!"_

_His words left me frozen in place. I was looking down at my paws, dug into the stones of the cobbled road leading towards the Jade Palace. I did understand how he felt, but that didn't change the fact that I didn't want him to do what I know he was planning. I quickly gave chase again, praying I would find him before he made it to Master Shifu._

_I was surprised to see Tai-Lung standing at the base of the stairs leading up The Jade Palace, he actually hadn't even made it to the training ground yet, which was a relief. I had time to talk him out of this crazy fight._

_I ran up to him, and without thinking, I dove over his head and directly between him and the first step of the Thousand Stairs leading to the palace. He turned down to look at me, with a stern, but soft, look in his eyes. He was smiling, and I had no idea why._

_"Tigress..." He whispered to me, then began laughing. "Why are you still here?"  
I took offense to his laughter and got in his face. "I'm here to stop you, you idiot! Do you have any idea what will happen if you go up those stairs to fight our Master? To fight our Father?"  
"Our Master?" He took a step back, folding his arms over his broad chest. "Our **Father?**" He then scoffed._

_"That man hasn't been my Master in over twenty years, and he hasn't been my father for even longer..." He set his gaze to the sky, closing his eyes and exposing his neck to me. If I wanted, I could have grabbed him, and choked him, and ended his whole ordeal once and for all. But he was exhaling, probably trying to think of a way to get past me._

_"Well even so, Tai-Lung. I can't let you go up these stairs to fight Master Shifu." I stood tall, certain I wasn't letting him leave.  
"Oh?" He grinned, looking back down at me with his brightly glowing golden eyes. "Why is that, Tigress?"  
"Because, Tai-Lung... Unlike you, I still have a reason to defend The Valley, My Master and the Dragon Scroll."  
"Ah yes... The Dragon Scroll." The snow leopard began to laugh again, "I almost forgot why I returned in the first place. And here I was thinking I would return to slay your Master, Burn down the Jade Palace and run off with you to a far away land across the sea."_

_"W-what?" I stopped standing up tall and took a step back, and as I did, Tai-Lung stepped forward. "What are you talking about?"  
"Oh... did I say that out loud?" He patted himself down, as if he were covered in dust. "I believe I may be ahead of myself, but if I'm not mistaken... Weren't you supposed to be the the Dragon Warrior?"  
"I was. But I wasn't chosen. Who cares. I didn't wreck up the Valley because of it!" _

_Tai-Lung nearly snapped. He start marching towards me, roaring. "**YOU** didn't wreck up the Valley? That's because **YOU** have friends, Tigress. **I was ALONE!**" I backed away slowly, not out of fear but because I didn't want to fight him.  
"I... realize that Tai-Lung but... you didn't have t-" He cut me off.  
"I didn't have a reason to? I was being carved into a warrior of Legend. He make me train until my bones ached! He made me work until my entire body was roaring and screaming in agony! And I still pushed on. I became a weapon... and I **still wasn't good enough!?" **Tai-Lung roared at me, I tried to reason with him, but my reasoning wasn't great.  
"I understand Tai-Lung... Shifu is very hard on us but... What about-"  
"What about what, Tigress? What?" I fell backwards against the stairs, looking up at him as he stepped even closer to me until he almost planted his crotch against my face. To prevent it, I looked up, as hard and fast as I could, only to see that he was looking down at me._

_"But what about, what you could have become?" I spoke calmly, trying to keep my mind in check.  
"What would I have become Tigress?" Tai-Lung stepped over me, walking up the stairs and away from me. "I would have been nothing, Tigress. My calling was stripped from me, and because I didn't have a Furious Five to call my own, I was left to wallow alone in my sorrow and anguish. That is why I did what I did."_

_I watched him walking away from me, marching up the stairs to fight Master Shifu. I couldn't allow it to happen._

_"Tai-Lung, wait!" I crawled, then ran after him. He didn't stop, but I caught up to him anyway and grabbed one of his large arms. "Wait!"  
"What is it..." He turned to look at me again. "You're not going to stop me..."  
"But I have to." I sank my claws into his arm, and glared up at his face. He glared back at me, and pulled himself free, forcing me off balance._

_"Why." He asked, as I tripped into him, but I caught myself before falling against him like an unbalanced child.  
"Because, you're better than this. Revenge is not the answer." I told him, again, reaching forward to grab his hand and took it into mine. "You're a Kung-Fu Master, you're not evil... You're just upset."  
"Feh," He scoffed again, and snatched his paw from my grip. "You act as if you're going to talk me out of this without resorting to brute force... Master Shifu has to pay for what he did to me, Tigress... That fact won't change."  
"But why? Can't you forgive him?" I argued.  
"Can you?!" He retorted, still glaring at me._

_"I can!" I stomped a foot down, cracking several stairs under me.  
"How?!" He roared back at me, throwing his fists out and baring his chest, as if challenging me to attack him. "How can you? After what he did to you?! To you and your friends?!"  
"Because... I have honor, Tai-Lung. And so do you... Why do you need to pursue this dark path?"  
"Because, Tigress... Unlike you." Tai-Lung turned away from me. "I have nothing to live for..." He then sighed, deeply... And walked up the stairs, away from me again._

_"What... what do you mean? You have the, Master!" I called after him.  
"I do not." He responded without looking back. "Master Shifu forsook me when I was sent to Chorh-Gom Prison."  
"No he didn't! He would talk about you constantly!" I shouted after him, summoning the will to follow him as he pushed through the doors leading to the exhibition grounds. He was half way to Shifu._

_"If Master Shifu really cared about me, he would have visited me... Or at least sent some manner of communication to me..." Tai-Lung was growling now, I clearly wasn't helping the situation.  
"Well... That may be, but... I know Master Shifu would apologize if he could see you again. If you don't intend to attack him!"  
"When you say that, Tigress. It means that you actually don't know him nearly as well as I assume you would..."  
"What do you mean?" I grabbed him for a third time, bringing his forward march to a stop. "I know Master Shifu very well."  
Tai-Lung turned back to me with a glare in his eyes. "Then you would know that Master Shifu would never forgive you for a grave error, that was your own fault. He forgives failure if it's is an act of god... And that is all."_

_I lowered my head, sighing. . . That was very true. Master Shifu was incredibly strict. But I can't help but feel that Shifu is also a wounded party in this whole event._

_"Tai-Lung." I pleaded, running out of options. "Please, don't do this. If you fight Master Shifu, you'll be labeled as a traitor forever."  
"Stop talking as if you love me Tigress!" Tai-Lung snatched his paw away from me again, snarling at me now.  
"..." I grew silent, glaring up at him. "I... have never loved a man my entire life..." I balled my fists in anger._

_"How dare you accuse me of loving you!"  
"If you do not deeply care for me; Then why are you trying to hard to keep me alive?! I have **NOTHING**_ _to live for Tigress. I have no parents, I have no children, I have no friends!" Tai-Lung roared at me, balling up his own fists.  
"You're wrong! People DO care about you! You're just too goddamn stubborn to see it!"  
"Are you **certain?** Are you **sure?**" He glared at me, walking up to me and grabbing me by my shoulders. "Why are you saying such things? You don't love me? But you want to fight for my life? I'm a villain, Tigress. A Murderer. A killer... I-am-**EVIL**."_

_I leaned forward to head-butt him, sending his head flying backwards. "You're not a villain! You're an idiot!"  
His head came soaring back into mine, cracking me in the skull in a return head-butt... I felt my head jutting backwards but the impact was painless. Even though I felt a warm gush of my own blood spilling from a sudden head wound. _

_"I AM a Villain!" He growled at me, making my ire light up and burn hot. I seized his shoulders and rammed my head back into his again. Sending his head backwards this time.  
"YOU ARE NOT A VILLAIN! YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" I roared back, and... I should have seen it coming, but I couldn't have dodged it, even if I did. He send his head back into mine, in a return head-butt._

_"God... Dammit!" I head-butted him again.  
"Grrrr... Damn you!" He roared and hit me back in the same fashion.  
"TAI-LUNG!" I roared and head-butted him again.  
"TIGRESS!" He shouted even louder and returned with another head-butt... Soon, both our faces were coated in blood, and our shoulders were bleeding from how hard we were holding onto each other. But I couldn't feel an ounce of pain even though my brain should have exploded from multiple impacts by now._

_"Why?! Why are you trying so hard?!" Tai-Lung growled. "Just admit that you love me, so I can go and kill Master Shifu!"  
"I don't love you, Tai-Lung. I just don't want you to die." I growled past my bloody lips and face. "Master Shifu won't kill you, but the Dragon Warrior will."  
"The Dragon Warrior is the reason I'm here Tigress..." Tai-Lung admitted, head-butting me again and sending me soaring back as he released my shoulders. My claws tore free from his arms as he roared out in pain, and I went flying to the ground. But I rolled onto my feet and charged after him without even thinking._

_I slammed him to the ground, and stomped my foot down on his throat. "Dammit you idiot, don't you see what I'm trying to do for you?"  
He coughed and growled up at me. "You're trying to hide your feelings for me, through brute force. I know what you're doing."  
"How can you say that?!" I shifted my foot off of his neck and kicked him in the face. He rolled and managed to trip me up, even though I had just kicked him in the face._

_"I can say it because it's true!" He was also fast enough to grab me while I fell, and he caught me in his arms, lifting me up to his chest. _

_I growled up at him, and wiped his face. "You don't have to do this to yourself... Think about what more you can do with your life, Tai-Lung."  
Tai-Lung was growling but he closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "My life is over, Master Tigress." He leaned forward and extended his tongue, and licked my face, somehow cleaning up all the blood in one stroke. _

_I'd never been so horny in my whole life._

_I reached forward and grabbed his large head in both my hands. "Forget about your old life then..." I started directly up into his eyes, feeling my heart swelling with desire.  
"Why? Do you love me?" He grunted a little.  
"I've never been in love with anyone, my entire life... But-" I started to speak, but he cut me off, licking the inside of my mouth with his tongue. _

_I have **now** never been so horny my entire life._

_"But, you love me, right?" He spoke softly.  
Without thinking... I closed my eyes to kiss him, boiling with desire feeling his warm lips pressing against mine. His lips parted from my own, but I kept his head close to mine, holding his head still with my paws._

_"I love you." He whispered to me._


	3. Chapter 3

-3-

_Tigress..._

"Tai-Lung..." I whispered back, hardly able to restrain myself. I squeezed harder on his soft face, but in my paws, was actually just an empty bowl and not the face of a man who deserved to be the Dragon Warrior. I jumped back in shock for a moment, not understanding what happened.

"Was... I dreaming?" I spoke, while looking around the restaurant, completely spooked out of my mind for a moment. I took in my surroundings while inhaling deeply... I _was_ still in Mr. Ping's noodle shop, and as far as I know... Tai-Lung wasn't any where near by. I couldn't smell him in the air, and I barely had a wound on me anywhere.

I checked my head for an injury, and my shoulders for puncture wounds... and nothing. I was dreaming. Somehow. I glanced down at the empty noodle bowl in front of me... I had somehow licked it clean since there wasn't a trace of food remaining within the bowl. But... It had to be the soup... I wasn't even aware of how long I was dreaming but, that dream had to be brought on by what was in that soup.

Mr. Ping came out of the kitchen, carrying a spoon in his hand. "Ah, here you are Master T-" He began to say my name, but stopped short when he noticed that I had drank down the soup without need of a spoon. "Oh... You're finished."  
I bowed my head, "Forgive me, Mr. Ping. I... wasn't aware I was supposed to have a spoon."  
"What?" He stepped back. "Dear girl, you weren't raised on a farm-"  
"Correct." I interrupted him, "I was raised in an orphanage where everyone was afraid to get near me because I was the only predator."

"Oh." He coughed into his fist, feeling the situation growing awkward. "Well... Did you at least enjoy the soup? Or did you drink it down like, Po?"  
My skin crawled for a minute, recalling the slurps and moans of pleasure Po would make while he ate. "N-No... I did at least taste the soup when it entered my mouth. And it was... delicious, Mr. Ping."

He was silent... Staring hard at me for a moment. I partially leaned back, unsure of what he was trying to see by staring so hard at me.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed the soup my dear." He straightened up, and began to smile again. "Please, whenever you're hungry. Stop by and have some more of my wonderful noodles! Tell your friends! Just... don't tell them I let you eat for free." The duck then snatched the bowl off the table and returned to the kitchen, effectively dismissing me.

I slowly rose from the table and made my way for the door, still trying to understand why I was having a long... detailed, day dream about Tai-Lung of all people. Was... I really attracted to that brute?

"Master Tigress!" I heard a familiar voice calling out to me. I turned and ducked back, just in time to avoid Mei-Ling. She went sailing into Mr. Ping's shop like an excited teenager trying to straddle her favorite celebrity.

I could hear Mr. Ping squawking and swinging a wok around, and Mei-Ling apologizing and running around like a frightened varmint. Somehow, that situation was funnier than I thought it would be. Only about a minute later, Mei-Ling came running back out of Mr. Ping's stop with a wet noodle sticking to her head like it had been there for years, and she was panting heavily.

"The food really takes your breath away, doesn't it?" I smiled at Mei-Ling while I spoke.  
"What?" She exhaled deeply, and bent forward to cough. "Gaaah! That duck is crazy! He tried to hit me with a wok!"  
"You crashed into his store... What did you expect? He takes his business very seriously, you know." I was still grinning while Mei-Ling tried to regain her breathe. "And why did you dive at me?" I added as a second thought.

"I didn't expect him to dive over his counter and start shouting at me. It was an accident." Mei-Ling stood up, trying to explain.  
"Yeah, accident. Did you try to fix anything? Or did you get up and start running around like your head was cut off...? And why did you dive at me?"  
"I was going to fix something! But he was already on me, swinging that Wok around saying, 'You scare customers! Bad for business!'" She retorted, still breathing heavily.

"What, really? In that accent and everything?" I rose an eyebrow. I've never heard Mr. Ping shouting when he was angry, but ... I was assuming Mei-Ling was over exaggerating. "And _why_ did you dive at me?!"  
"I... may be over selling it a bit yes." She sighed and looked down. But she picked herself up quickly and looked up to me again. "And I was diving at you because I have desperate news to tell you!"  
"Desperate? Or Dire?" I inquired casually, not actually believing that anything Mei-Ling had to say was actually urgent.

"It's Dire!" She corrected herself. "It's about the Dragon Warrior."  
"And what? Did he tell you he's not sure if he's killed the Dragon Warrior or not?" I retorted, folding my arms over my chest.  
"We-.. He-... You se- ..." Mei-Ling began to stammer. . . _I was right?_ Interesting.

"So, he's confirmed what I predicted the entire time. The _Dragon Warrior_ isn't the warrior of legend, and he didn't actually kill Tai-Lung."  
"Well... I wouldn't say that." Mei-Ling said, scratching her head.  
"I know you wouldn't ... But I am." I stretched my arms, then re-folded them over my chest. "The Dragon Warrior didn't kill Tai-Lung."  
"Well, how do you know?" She asked, looking concerned.  
"I don't. But the evidence doesn't stack up to the conclusion that Tai-Lung isn't actually dead... Not to mention, no one actually knows what the Wuxi Fingerhold actually does to a living person."

"I know what it does." Mei-Ling stood tall again, with a smile on her face. She always grew confident whenever she thought she was right.  
"Is that so..." I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Alright, then. What does it do?"

Mei-Ling stood back, and held her gloved paws together, making a circle out of her fore fingers and thumbs. "Alright so. This... what I am doing. Is a normal animal."  
I looked at the circle she was making with her fingers and chuckled. "I actually think that's the Dragon Warrior, not a normal animal."

She giggled, "I know right? But really. If this is a regular person... " She then took one paw, and balled it into a fist and extended her fore finger and thumb again, to incidicate something _small_. That was basically the universal sign for _small._ As far as I knew. And she held that 'symbol' within the half remaining symbol of a 'regular animal'.

"So this here." She was now talking about her other, 'small' paw, "This represents the chi, hidden within a normal person."  
"The... Chi." I repeated after her. "Hidden within a normal person?"  
Mei-Ling nodded excitedly, not realizing I barely had any idea what she was talking about. But... I didn't want to look like an idiot infront of her so I pretended I knew exactly what chi was, and that everyone had it.

"Now..." Mei-Ling continued. "Normal people have such a low amount of chi within them, that it barely even registers when chi sensetive events occur near them. However..." She increased the size between her finger and thumb on the 'small' hand to nearly half the size of the diagram of the 'normal animal'. "If a person has chi power that registers to chi senstive events... They can be affected by certain things that-"  
"Affect, chi." I interrupted, finishing her sentence for her. "I understand that much, about people who do and don't have it. What are you getting at?"

"Okay okay, hold on." Mei-Ling scratched the back of her head, growing nervous and destroying her diagrams. "Ok so... " She held her paws up again in the same fashion. "Now... The Wuxi Fingerhold is something like a firework that happens inside a person's soul."  
"What?" I twisted my face in disbelief. "Is it? How does it work?"  
"I'm going to explain that." Mei-Ling said then, continued. "It works by causing the attacker, or the user, causing a _Colorless Surge_ to occur within their victim. The Colorless Surge is triggered when the user lowers their pinky on the finger of the victim and chi is passively projected from the user _into_ the victim. The victim's chi is then... _Ignited_ by the Colorless Surge and begins to burn, and expand."

"Burn and Expand? So... Like when Gunpowder is hit with a flame...? Correct?" I questioned, trying to follow along.  
Mei-Ling nodded, "Exactly like that. The amount of chi within the victim directly effects how powerful the blast is. And having even a tiny amount of chi could possibly kill the victim in the initial explosion."

I lowered my head, staring down at the ground while I thought about what Mei-Ling said. . . "So . . ." I paused, and exhaled. "Tai-Lung, full of power and fury, was like a giant... angry... bomb, then?"  
"In theory, yes." Mei-Ling answered.  
"In theory?" I retorted. "What are you implying?"  
"Well . . ." She walked over to me, and leaned against the wall I was leaning on, that was right next to the entrance of Mr. Ping's store. "If Tai-Lung didn't have much chi, there is a chance he _could_ have survived the Fingerhold."

"So... He could be alive?" I turned to Mei-Ling.  
"I don't know." She answered. "You see, the Wuxi Fingerhold is a powerful technique, but... It's only been used once in history, aside from today of course... and the target was a man of incredibly power. So it splattered him into bloody chunks."

"So the blast... It literally occurs, _inside_ the victim? Shouldn't that kill anybody?" I asked, trying to figure out if we could decide if Tai-Lung was alive or dead.  
"A real explosion yes, it would, considering it's a compressed blast. But this is a blast of chi, your spiritual energy. You would only be shattered if you had a large reservoir of chi, if Tai-Lung was... well... Lacking. He may have survived the blast."

"So... He could be alive? Because he was in prison for twenty years, and he may have exhausted everything he had fighting at the Thread of Hope, and fighting Shifu."  
"There's a chance of that." Mei-Ling placed a gloved finger up to her lips. "But... There's also a chance he may have died from the aftermath of the explosion. After the blast went off, if he wasn't detonated, he may have been thrown across the land, or punched straight into the ground."

"Wh...what?" I started coughing. "What?! That can happen?"  
"We're Kung-Fu Masters, anything can happen, Master Tigress." Mei-Ling said with a smile on her face. "So... you want to investigate the hole together?"

Even though her invitation sounded more like a date than a duty, I decided to go along with her.

"Sure." I said, nodding, and pushed away from the wall of Mr. Ping's shop. "So... How do you know so much about, chi?"  
"I know a lot about everything." Mei-Ling said with a smile, now following me.  
"And how is this?"  
"Well," She began. "At my Kung-Fu Academy, when I was still a student, our Master was a very learned and knowledgeable man. He was very intelligent and taught all of us about Chi, and how to use it. And he went into length about _Legendary Chi Abilities _from other masters from across the world. Like, outside of China, the forms of martial arts change dramatically, but we all still mostly practice the same principles, and all chi is the same, no matter what part of the world we come from."

I was impressed... Mei-Ling, whom I've only known for about ten minutes, was turning out to be a giant wealth of information, even though she looked dramatically younger than me. She was also very pretty, like... twenty pretty. No wonder Mei-Ling was jealous.

"My Master also told me about, many of the Masters and other great warriors. In this case, Tai-Lung." Her words made me stop in place, and I spun to look back at the mountain cat.  
"What? Really? Your master, knew Tai-Lung?" I questioned, a bit shocked.  
Mei-Ling nodded, still smiling. "He did, and he was beaten by Tai-Lung in a duel when Tai-Lung was only sixteen."

"...Wow." I turned around, hardly able to believe it. "Sixteen. Tai-Lung was ... amazing."  
"Yeah, I've heard many stories about him. He, and his Master, Shifu, used to travel all over China, to deal with bandit lords and disasters."  
"Really? Tai-Lung and Master Shifu were freedom fighters?" I laughed while walking, now searching for the blast where Tai-Lung was allegedly, defeated.

"Well, more like law enforcement. But yes, Tai-Lung and Master Shifu were very experienced travelers and they were incredibly successful when it came to dealing with threats. Although, I heard they engaged a group of assassins, and were injured, and forced to return to the Valley of Peace, and they never fought on the road again."  
"Assassins huh..." I thought, feeling as if I should have known about that. "Interesting. And you say they quit going outside? That doesn't really sound like Tai-Lung. But- it does sound like my Master. It's quite rare to see him outside of the Jade Palace."

"So I've heard." Mei-Ling giggled, stepping up her pace and coming side-to-side with me as we walked. "You know... I've also heard things about the Furious Five."  
I rolled my eyes, "Who hasn't, Mei-Ling? You need to be more specific."  
"Well okay, I've heard things about _you._" She said, stepping in front of me, with an even bigger smile that before.

"Why... are you smiling at me like that?" I stopped stepping forward and took a step back. "And what have you heard about me?"  
"Well." Mei-Ling grinned. "I know your real name."

I barely let her get the words out of her mouth by the time I seized her by her clothes and drug her off to an alley. Without thinking, I slung Mei-Ling against a pile of old empty rice sacks.  
"What do you mean you know my **REAL NAME?!**" I roared down at the girl, who instantly looked frightened.  
"No! NO! I didn't mean anything bad by it!" She started pleading. I wasn't planning to hit her, but... I'm very careful about who I trust with such sensitive information, and...

"Who told you?" I snarled.  
"Hey, calm down!" She gasped.  
"I AM calm!" I continued snarling. "Who told you?!"  
"It was a woman!" Mei-Ling held up a hand, to shield herself... I still wasn't planning to hit her, but I also forgot she was a Kung-Fu Master.

And a chi user.

"Sorry!" She gasped, and suddenly I was flashed.  
"GAH!" I felt my eyes burning suddenly, as her palm grew amazingly bright and flashed with a searing white light, like a pile of sulfur being lit on fire. "What did you do to me!?"  
"I'm sorry! I didn't want you to hit me!" Mei-Ling apologized, but I couldn't see her.  
"What!? I wasn't going to hit you! You're a Kung-Fu Master! You should be able to tell if I'm angry or not!" I retorted, feeling around, trying to find her or ... anything. But I couldn't see . . . Was. . . Was I blind?!

"But you always look angry!" Mei-Ling argued, and I felt her hands find my shoulders. Pulling me against her body. I couldn't see... But I could feel just fine, and my senses were very high since I'd been training to raise them for years. So, I didn't need eyes to tell that my head was resting against Mei-Ling's chest and between her firm breasts... What I didn't know, was why I felt so ... nice.

I grunted a bit and tried to sit up, "I don't always look angry. I was smiling earlier today when you were being chased out of Mr. Ping's shop."  
"That was supposed to be smiling?! People don't bare their fangs, and frown when they smile. You were snarling!" Mei-Ling continued to argue with me.  
"They don't?! They do! I've seen people smile with their fangs bared before! It only felt natural." I continued to pull my face away from Mei-Ling's breasts, but I was unable to. For a pretty girl, Mei-Ling had a surprising amount of strength. Viper did have real competition when it came to this lady.

"That's called a sincere face, Master Tigress. It's supposed to scare people!"  
"Really? Then why weren't you scared?!" I was arguing now, blinking furiously to try and see anything other than this brightly multicolored flash in my eyes that was rendering me sightless.  
"Because you're my idol!" Mei-Ling confessed again. "And I want to be your friend!"

I quit struggling. "Ugh... really?"  
"Yes." She admitted plainly. "I think you're an amazing woman and I want to be more like you. Powerful, Recognized, and Beautiful."

"W-what?" I gasped, finally able to pull myself away from Mei-Ling. "You think I'm... beautiful?! Why?! You're a woman!"  
"Women can find other women beautiful. It's a compliment." I didn't need eyes to tell that Mei-Ling was smiling. I was embarrassed... how was I supposed to respond to what I was hearing when all I could do was hear and not see? I knew Mei-Ling was beautiful, honestly... She's more of a beauty than I am, but I think I look like a boy. But I'd never say any of that out loud.

I turned my blind eyes to look at Mei-Ling, who I could feel moving towards me slowly. Was... she really going to kiss me? In a random alley?! Who knows would could be watching. I held still, gritting my teeth together, anticipating the sensation of Mei-Ling's lips on mine but, when I felt her kiss it wasn't nearly what I was expecting.

My eyes started to tremble in, and suddenly the blinding flash flushed away and out of my vision. My sight cleared up up and I was able to see again, to see exactly what was going on. I found myself, staring straight down Mei-Ling's cleavage, while her lips were pressed against my forehead. I jumped back, shocked.

"W-what are you doing?!" I demanded, while trying to stand up.  
"I was fixing your eyes. I didn't want to blind you, but I didn't want you to beat on me." Mei-Ling started to confess, and sat back smiling at me. "Besides. I've always wanted to kiss y-"

"Hey... Stop. I've never been in love with anyone before, so I don't know what it's like to-"  
"Kiss a girl?" Mei-Ling interrupted me, and climbed on top of me. I ... should have fought back, but I didn't. I didn't actually know what it was like to kiss anyone... Since I'd never done it and, I guess if I was going to start anywhere, I could probably do worse than Mei-Ling.

- - - ! - - -

This time when Mei-Ling's lips were on me, it felt... much... much different.

Her fur felt soft, against mine, and her lips were small but supple and firm, kind of the same way her breast felt now that they were pressed close against my own. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of Mei-Ling's looks but... I don't think I need to be jealous considering that she was the one who done on top of me. Biting my bottom lip, scratching at the ground on each side of my ears and grinding her hips against mine.

I was completely inexperienced in things like this, but Mei-Ling made me feel like I didn't need to be ashamed, or even trained. She was rolling her body against mine in such an expert fashion, I could have mistaken this for a type of training that I was terribly unaware of, and I was learning from a kind, sensual Master. I felt one of Mei-Ling's legs separating my own, and a warm sensation began to develop inside of me. Similar to the same horny passion I was feeling when I was being kissed by Tai-Lung.

Mei-Ling was turning me on.

Her skilled leg separated mine and she brought her hips closer to mine, gently rubbing our crotches against each other. I sucked in air past my fangs, and she purred, taking her lips away from mine and kissing down my neck. I felt like I was burning, and didn't know how to react. I wasn't thinking and tried to do what, I felt, was coming naturally. I felt my paws, sliding down Mei-Ling's back, one stopping just behind her head and the other sliding down towards her hips. My first paw pushed Mei-Ling's head against my neck, so she would suck on my fur and lick at my throat more, while the other hand that found her hips, got a large gip of her small, but cute and firm butt.

"Oh Tigress~" Mei-Ling moaned at me, pulling her head back. I glanced up into her eyes, and saw a burning passion that I'd never seen in the eyes of ... anyone, before. It made me feel so ... naughty, so sexy, to have someone looking at me so lustfully.  
"Y-you... know what you're doing, don't you?" I chuckled a little, trying not to seem nervous.  
"Actually, I've never kissed a girl either." She confessed to me, leaning down again to plant her lips against mine.

_'How is that possible?' _I thought to myself, but my thoughts went sailing off when I felt Mei-Ling's tongue enter my mouth. God... I wanted to moan, but all I could do was purr. This was apparently a good thing, because my purring made Mei-Ling press against me harder, and rub her hips even harder against mine... Making me tremble in anticipation of something . . . bigger.

Mei-Ling's spit and tongue rolling around inside my mouth was almost indescribable, I knew I could find words for it. But there was no way to speak when all I wanted to do was kiss. Her tongue was rough, just like mine, but it was also hot and passionate. Soft on the underside and rough on top, and she somehow managed to roll her tongue over to scratch the rough top of her tongue against the rough top of my own. It felt so unique and different compared to anything else I had ever done, I wanted to do it again. So I leaned forward, kissing her back just as hard as she was kissing me.

She purred louder, accepting my tongue in her mouth, and I folded my tongue over to lick the top of hers as she demonstrated only a moment earlier, and the beads of sweat I could feel forming on the back of her neck was a good indication that I was doing things right... All this felt right. A woman, or more importantly, Mei-Ling ... She was Master Crane's old friend but... I wanted to be her friend more than ever right now.

Her lips parted from mine again, and there was a thin bridge of spit connecting our tongues. That hot passion that was burning inside me grew even brighter when I saw that, and I gasped out in horny angst.

"Oh my god..." I mouthed, smiling up at this young, sexy, talented feline sitting on top of me. She put her hands behind her head and winked at me, showing off her large chest and her erect nipples. I felt even sexier knowing I could turn on such an attractive woman.

- - - ! - - -

"Enjoy that?" Mei-Ling purred, lowering her hands and gently sinking her claws into my shirt.  
"V-very much." I muttered, not realizing that my breathing was staggered due to how horny I was. "Are we done?"

"Far from, Master Tigress." She crawled her body towards me, and kissed me again. I folded my arms around her back to hold her close, wanting to claim her for my own.  
"Good. I want to learn more about this." I leaned forward to kiss her, possibly the first real unprovoked kiss I'd ever given. But I couldn't help myself. "And I want to learn more about you."

"Oh you will, Master Tigress." Mei-Ling purred, and pulled herself out of my arms. She took a step back and presented one of her gloved paws to me, to help me off the ground. I accepted it without a second thought.

"I will? When?" I eagerly asked, unable to hide my desire for her.  
"As soon as we find somewhere to be... alone." She said with a wink.

"Alone?" I turned around to look out of the alley. Thankfully no one was there, and I then realized how easy it would have been for someone to catch us in such a compromising situation. I was a Master of the Jade Palace and Leader of the Furious Five, and Mei-Ling was a Master from . . . somewhere, and if someone caught us, women, kissing in an alley. It could start and uproar.

"Well," I started talking, turning back to Mei-Ling, who was smiling sensually at me, still with a light blush on her cheeks and a soft sweaty glow on her fur. "We could-"  
"No." Mei-Ling cut me off. "I don't think we should do anything more here in the Village, and especially not at the Jade Palace. What if your friends found out?"

I swallowed hard. "They probably would never let me hear the end of it..." I looked up at the sky. "Especially Viper."  
"Oh yes, Master Viper seems to be a bit edgy when it comes to new people around her friends. She probably would hate to hear that me and you made out."  
"We... Made Out?" I paused, thinking. "Oh! Oh... I always thought that was just called kissing." I felt so embarrassed, but I lived such a sheltered life I had no real experience with women... or men... or anything of this sort.

"Oh yes, we certainly made out." Mei-Ling stepped forward to hug me close, and I hugged her back... It felt so... warm, holding her against me. "And we'll do even more when-"  
"W-when what?" I interrupted her, excited about making out again.  
"When we find a nice quiet place to spend a night together." Mei-Ling finished.

"A night, together. Does Making Out, take longer than what we did?" I was a little confused, and Mei-Ling smiled and leaned forward to push her nose against mine, with a sexy smile hanging in her brown eyes.  
"Oh no, Making Out takes about that long, but we're going to need a room to our selves all night when I show you how to have sex."

I felt my heart thump against my chest. "S-sex?"  
"Sex." Mei-Ling repeated, whispering to me.  
"I-I've never-"  
"You will."  
"D-does it.. h-" I started to stammer.  
"Maybe for a moment, but a strong Master like you won't feel anything... but passion." She cooed at me, nipping my ear.

I was starting to get extremely horny again. So I grabbed her shoulders, and held her in front of me. She blinked, looking confused.  
"What's wrong?" She asked, clearly concerned.  
"What is this? That I'm feeling right now? Because... I want to kiss you again, and hold you against me, and... and..." I looked down.  
Mei-Ling smiled. "Master Tigress, you're experiencing a lot of things right now. Like passion, confusion, possibly even extreme horniess."

I looked back up at her. "Is... it love?"  
"It may be lust. I don't know if you _love_ me, but... Perhaps we can explore that later... When we find a room for a night." Mei-Ling stepped out of my hands.

"So, I'm not in love with you? Can... A woman, be in love with another woman?" I asked, still feeling a little ashamed of my ignorance.  
"Of course they can." She smiled. "But love is reserved for deeper relationships. Love at first sight is kind of a fairy tale... Unless you know, it actually happens."  
I turned to her. "Can it happen... to us?"  
"Maybe." She replied. "But I think you may just be really horny. I hate to leave you hanging, but for your reputation we can't do anything sexual here. So, you'll have to endure that feeling for a while."

"The feeling of ... wanting to Make Out?" I asked, still confused.  
"The desire to have sex. It... can get pretty bad the longer you go without having it."  
"How come I've gone for so long without having th-" I questioned her again, but she cut me off.  
"Because you've never done it. Your desire for sexual contact has remained low because you've never stimulated that passion. I may have sparked it, and will probably pay for it later." She finished her sentence with a laugh.

"But-" Mei-Ling then continued, "If your desire does get too great and you think you're going to go mad without sex... Masturbate."  
"Masturbate? I thought only guys could M-" I, again, was stopped mid sentence.  
"Women can masturbate, just as well, if not better, than Men can, Master Tigress."

Mei-Ling was far smarter than I was... I knew everything there was to know about Leopard, Mantis, White Crane, Viper and Monkey style Kung-Fu, along with the History of China, it's Dynasties, and Master Shifu's ex-student, Tai-Lung... But I knew nothing about sex. Mei-Ling on the other hand knew all about chi, Master Shifu, me and the Furious Five, Tai-Lung, probably the History of China, it's Dynasties and lengths about sex and how to turn a woman on. If I were going to dedicate myself to someone, it would be difficult for me not to think of Mei-Ling.

Mei-Ling was at the mouth of the alley, looking back and forth to see if anyone was near by. She turned back to me, and I was standing there, wanting her to come back into my arms... But I knew I had to suppress that urge for a while.  
"Master Tigress. There's no one around. I think it's safe to say that no one saw us making out."  
"Then we should do it again." I replied.  
She started laughing and flicked a paw at me, like a cat... and, God that was sexy.

"I promise you we will, just not here, not in the Valley." She winked at me, and I nodded, slightly disappointed, but I understood. "I'm going to go and see if I can find some place for us to ... relax. I'll be back in the Village in a few hours, if anyone plans to look for me. Okay?"  
"W-wait, you're le..." I paused myself. Feeling clingy. "Okay, Mei-Ling. Be careful, okay?"

"There's nothing in this Valley but herbivores and a few bandits. I'll be fine, Master Tigress." She slowly walked towards me. I felt my heart rate climbing, and my paws slowly reaching out to take her body into my arms. But instead of making out again, Mei-Ling jumped over my head and out of the alley, leaving me there... alone, and very horny.

"Tai-Lung needs to learn to kiss like that." I said jokingly, as I started to walk out of the alley.

My day had been going every which way _but_ the way I wanted. At first, I wanted to find out what the deal was behind Tai-Lung's defeat, from the Dragon Warrior, and to do that, I needed to find the Dragon Warrior after he ran off to find Master Shifu. Finding him was the easy part, but getting him to remain was difficult. Po and Master Shifu left swiftly, due to the Master's injuries, and Crane brought up the good point of... _'Why is there so much energy floating around here, because we've never learned of anything like this before'. _So we decided that we needed to make Master Shifu talk, and spill whatever secrets he had about 'Chi' because even Mei-Ling knew, and we didn't and she's from some village from across China.

On the way to find Master Shifu, Mei-Ling and Po derailed our train of thought with word of Tai-Lung, but... Tai-Lung was already defeated, and instead of going on with business, Mei-Ling, Crane and Viper decided to start a love triangle while Po began to ramble on about being ignored. We were ignoring him, but for good reason... Now, there's no real reason to do anything. So I found myself wandering to Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop and had a weird day-dream about trying to stop Tai-Lung from going to fight Shifu.

Did I travel back in time a few hours...? I couldn't have, or else things may have turned out different... Or perhaps I did travel back in time, and my ... desire ... for Tai-Lung to stay wasn't enough to keep him from fighting our Master. But we did kiss... and I kissed Mei-Ling. I was supposed to ask how she knew my name, but somehow managed to Make Out with her instead. It was the most passionate thing I'd done in years that didn't involve the passion of battle. And she told me to Masturbate if my desire for her got too strong... I would need to learn how to do that, because... I want to feel her lips on mine again and... I want her to show me sex.


	4. Chapter 4

- 4 -

_Po . . . _

When I think back on my life, before Kung-Fu. I get sad. I used to be a loser. I used to be a nobody. I used to be a fat guy that no one really cared about, and would only pay attention to when I was screwing up, which was sometimes... a-lot. But recently, like... One week recently. I've had a bit of a lucky streak that I can only describe in one word.

...Awesome!

So, I totally became the Dragon Warrior like... Without even trying. I really wanted to see the Dragon Warrior ceremony, but Master Oogway chose ME to be the Dragon Warrior. How AWESOME is that? I mean, I know I'm awesome, but now I was awesome on ICE! With Flaming Wings!

So, I totally became the Dragon Warrior and... wait... I already thought that. Okay, so when I became the Dragon Warrior, at first Master Shifu didn't like me... As a matter of fact, he hated me. So much that he was beating me to get me to leave the Jade Palace. But, man, were those beatings, _which was called trainingby the way_, those beatings were the most Awesome things I got to do for years. Before anything in the Jade Palace, I was just dreaming about it... Sitting in my room at my Dad's Noodle shop, dreaming of greatness but when I made it to the Jade Palace. I knew I had managed to do something with my life.

Even if I'm not exactly sure what I did.

So, Shifu didn't like me at first. Or... really, any of the Furious Five. Master Mantis and Master Viper were the first of the Five to actually consider me worth talking to. Mantis tried to help me with Acupuncture, and Master Viper was trying to keep me from eating things in the room, because none of them were food. And Master Tigress was mad at me forever, even Master Crane and Master Monkey gave me a chance before Tigress did, but I never gave up hope... I was going to become friends with these guys if it killed me.

As it turned out, it almost did. Master Shifu ran into the kitchen one day when we were all having a bull session, and told us that Tai-Lung was on his way back and Master Oogway had passed on to the beyond. We didn't have time to mourn Grand Master Oogway, instead we got straight to training me to defeat Tai-Lung. Well, after I had a brisk run.

Master Shifu taught me how to punch, kick, block and touch my toes without difficulty and he knew I was ready to fight Tai-Lung, so on the day Tai-Lung arrived. Everyone prepared for my ascension to awesomeness. The Furious Five were there, but they were all beat up because they went after Tai-Lung... But I would avenge their ... lost... uh... comfort. But- when Master Shifu gave me the Dragon Scroll ... It was completely blank...

Seriously dude, blank...

How was I supposed to defeat, Tai-Lung, with a blank scroll? No one even stayed for the answer and everyone just hauled ass in every direction all at once. Except for me of course. I stood tall with Master Shifu and waited out the final battle. But... right before Tai-Lung arrived, I had to excuse myself to see my dad off. He was leaving the Valley with everyone else because of T-... he was leaving for smokes... I knew they would only be gone for about... Two hours or so, because they were going to be some _really_ good smokes. But, when I turned around to go find Master Shifu... Tai-Lung had already snuck past me!

I charged back up the stairs of the Jade Palace with fury in my heart and not so much as a damn dumpling in my stomach, but I knew I needed to get to Master Shifu before Tai-Lung did something horrible! When I arrived, Master Shifu was already defeated, and standing over him was the black hearted, evil, sinister, son of a bastard, Tai-Lung... He turned back to me and roared with a big deep demonic roar that would rip the color from a green onion. But I stood tall, and presented him with what he was after more than ever...

The Dragon Scroll.

I don't remember what happened after that, but I think Tai-Lung jumped back in awe of the Dragon Scroll's awesomeness, because he flipped backwards. So I took my Panda Style stance and told him to, 'Come get Some'. Then he charged at me with such furious demonic energy that even I, the great Dragon Warrior, had to recoil from a moment in shock and we were sent flying down the stairs, where I crushed him under my tushie.

Well, we did some more fighting after that, but Tai-Lung was no match for me and my awesomeness. Well, he also got the scroll from me after he hit me with one of those super high powered jump kicks that he must have learned from Master Oogway, because that's no way his own technique, I saw it during a stage play once. I think.

So, Tai-Lung looked at the Scroll, and realized that I'd already absorbed all the awesomeness within, and he gave up. His punches were no longer hurtful, because goddamn did they hurt. And his kicks couldn't connect anymore, I even made him bite his own tail because I was just so awesome, and I finished him off with one of my all time famous steel belly, belly bumps. Which is my own original technique that I just made up, because no one ever saw it before.

When Tai-Lung came down from that belly bump, he was defeated, and he couldn't figure out why I was so awesome. So I decided to show him. I grabbed his pinky, and he shriveled up like a little kitten. It was Wuxi Fingerhold time! So he started monologing and begging for his life! Well, he didn't monolog, only real Villains monolog, and no villain would face the Dragon Warrior! So he was just pleading for his life... Or... Really he said I was full of shit, but REGARDLESS! I was not full of shit! And I sent him sky high with the all time famous Wuxi FingerHold which was a move that I heard of from Shifu and some other guy from a long time ago that I didn't steal and just perfected because I'm awesome like that, thank you very much!

So, after the Wuxi Fingerhold... Tai-Lung was gone. Scattered to the wind. Defeated by a true Master of Kung-Fu, the Dragon Warrior. After such an awesome display of pure awesomeness, even Tigress was weak in the knees and fell over from pure lust of my awesome Dragon Warrior power! Well... Perhaps she didn't fall over from lust, maybe from Awesomeness... And... now that I think about it. I don't think she fell over at all, as a matter of fact, I think she just bowed. Which was just as awesome as her being madly in love with my awesomeness.

Actually... Tigress being in love with me would be pretty awesome. Super awesome. More awesome than Shifu being my best friend, which is a true non-made up, perfectly non-fiction fact.

So... uh... what was I thinking? Oh right. Tigress bowed to me. Awesome. Shifu my best friend. Bam. 'Oh right, Shifu!' were my exact words and I had to charge off for the Jade Palace to go find my wounded Master. I thought he was passing away from his injuries. But as it turns out, he was alive and just as mad and angry as ever. Which was awesome. So... I layed down next to him to... keep him company. And remembering that I had to fight Tai-Lung with no food in my stomach, I offered to take Master Shifu with me to get something to eat. He promptly agreed, and well... then the Furious Five showed up.

Master Shifu started to do his thing of being a Master, but he was showing signs of great injury, so I stepped in to save him, accidentally getting in the way of Tigress, who I ... kind of hugged. I can't remember why, but it was awesome too. So, then after Tigress and Shifu got out of my arms, I had to take Shifu back to his room because he was hurt. He said he'd need like... an hour or something, to recover from his injuries but, he fought Tai-Lung, he was definitely going to be needing some R and R, which stood for Ramen and Rice incase you didn't know.

Bam!

So, I set Shifu down and before I was able to leave, he grabbed me by the hand and told me that he was impressed with what I did today, and he was thankful that Oogway had picked me. He told me that Tigress was supposed to be the Dragon Warrior, but there was no telling how Tigress would react to seeing a blank scroll after so many years of tireless training. I told him that 'Man, it was messed up though right? An Empty Scroll' and Shifu agreed, it was a dirty trick but Oogway was a very cryptic turtle, and the Scroll had to be more than what everyone thought it was. I understood the power is inside of you, and inside of everyone, all along. There was no power outside of your own will that could make you a stronger person, a better Master of Kung-Fu, or a more awesome Dragon Warrior.

Then, Shifu told me about this 'Chi' thing, and blew my mind, because he made me sound like I was just blowing smoke out of my ass. He told me, Chi, was that explosive force that erupted after I hit Tai-Lung with the Wuxi FingerHold, but he was worried because there were no little tiny bits of Tai-Lung lying everywhere. So that meant that Tai-Lung had to be alive, and that I was to keep it a secret.

Well me, being me, I can't keep a secret. I mean... It's like when I have money. If it's in my pocket, I have to spend it.

So I wanted to tell the Furious Five, but when I went to go find them, all I saw was this thin, hot, fire cracker walking around. Man, she was hotter than Tigress. And she was sniffing around like she was looking for something, or for someone. But, on further inspection I realized that that hot lady sniffing around all spy like, was MEI-LING of SUN-LO KUNG-FU ACADEMY! She was the EXACT same girl that Master Crane had a crush on when he was still training to be a Kung-Fu Master. So I ran up to her like 'HEY! What you doin?!' And she totally punched me in the face.

When I woke up, she was standing over me, patting my head with her giant tits right against my chest, making sure I wasn't killed. The Dragon Warrior couldn't be killed, and I got up like I was fine, even though my brain had been wracked against each side of my skull, my teeth were ringing, my jaw was aching and I could taste blood. But still, I'm the Dragon Warrior, and I had to make a good impression.

So I stood up, and she asked if I was okay, and I said. 'Of course, I'-" and before I could say I was the Dragon Warrior, who shows up **none other than** the Furious Five, and they totally steal all my lime light. Because Mei-Ling, instead of going 'OOOH YOU'RE THE DRAGON WARRIOR! SIGN MY CHEST!' She's all , 'OOOH MASTER CRANE! SIGN MY CHEST!'.

Well... Really she just hugged him, and started laughing because they were old friends seeing each other again after like ... fifteen years, but I wanted that hug... And Crane got it. But you know what the Dragon Warrior got, that's better than a hug? Biiiig Boobs against his head, Bam-Awesome. Dragon Warrior 1, Master Crane – Zero! Well actually... Master Crane knew her first, and... he didn't get punched in the face so ... I guess he was still winning when it came to the battle of Mei-Ling's affection but... I had some brownie points, and there's nothing women, and me, love more than... Brownies!

Well Almond Cookies are also DA BOMB! But Brownies are just as good. Kinda.

So it actually took a while for the guys, and gals, to remember that I was there. I mean... I am the Dragon Warrior, but I can forgive them for not remembering such awesomeness is standing before them, _right after_ I defeated Tai-Lung too. And when attention finally came back to me, like it should, I started off by telling them about my amazing adventure of delivering Shifu to his room. After wards, I was going to tell them about what Shifu had told me, but Viper decided to chow down on Monkey and it totally broke my concentration, and we all helped get Viper off of Monkey. But I still had a lot on my mind, so I kept talking.

No one seemed to mind. Or at least I don't think so.

It took forever to pry Viper off of Monkey, who just sat there the entire time like some kind of awesome **boss**. It was really impressive, and certainly something that the Dragon Warrior needs to add onto his list. Getting sucked off by Master Viper for 30 minutes without so much as flinching. Con-sidering... that's what a _Blow Job_ is. Maybe Shifu can tell me, I'll ask him later.

So when Viper slithered away with Crane, Monkey and Mantis went their separate ways too, and I was left just... hanging out, since Mei-Ling had wandered off with Master Tigress. I was left by myself, not actually sure where to go, or what to do. So I started thinking...

_'Would I still be the Dragon Warrior if Tai-Lung wasn't dead?' _

I'm pretty sure I would... But... Really, the only thing I've done as Dragon Warrior has been to, defeat Tai-Lung and uh... look in the Dragon Scroll, and Tigress bowed at me, that was still awesome. But... Tai-Lung. What if he **is** still alive? Would he be mad?

Well... Obviously he would be mad at me. I mean, I did use the Wuxi FingerHold on him and not even _he_ knew of the hold, but... He did know of Chi. So if Tai-Lung was still alive... I needed to find him and bring him to justice... Right?

Right?

Probably not.

If Tai-Lung really was alive... I'd need to find him, and finding him would be harder than touching my toes in a dark room with a full belly. So, really... Finding Tai-Lung would be more of a task for someone like... a Side-kick, and bringing him to justice would be more like... My job. You know, since I'm the Dragon Warrior. So... how was I supposed to _find_ Tai-Lung. I mean, there's not even a great chance that he's alive... But if he is... I could be even more awesome by taking him alive. I mean, that's what good guys do right?

But... Tai-Lung is a bad guy. If I try to take him alive, he'll surely put up a fight and try to kill me. But... Would there really still be fight in him? After the fingerhold, finding out the Dragon Scroll is a fake, and that total whooping I put on him in the end. Would he really want to go for round two against the Dragon Warrior?

…

…

Yeah, probably. Tai-Lung was a seriously tough dude when he was younger, and he was a scary bad dude when he came after me and.. Man... He put a pounding on Master Shifu.

Hmm, I would need some help if I were to find Tai-Lung and bring him to justice... Someone who has a good nose for smelling things out. Like . . . Mei-Ling!

So, I found myself running... Which is something that I'm not good at... At all. I get really tired whenever I run, and my chest feels like it's going to explode in my chest, because that's where my heart is, and it's beating hard.

But really, when I run, I feel like crap. So I quickly came to rest at my Dad's shop, which was totally trashed!

"Oh man!" I gasped, tripping into the store. "I-I can't believe it!"  
"Oh son!" Dad came up to me, patting and hugging my big head. "Would you look at this mess? She ruined my two best tables... And a chair... No wait, that chair was already bad... Thank god for small miracles."  
"Wha? Who ruined your chairs? It wasn't Master Tigress was it? Because I could _so_ talk her into apologizing. She bowed to me you know." I tired to stand up, so I could gloat properly but... fatigue... So I was taking a rain check on standing for now.

"Master T-" Dad started laughing. "Oh, Master Tigress was here alright, but she wasn't the one who busted up my good tables! It was that... other one."  
"Other one?" I repeated after him. "Other who?"  
"The other cat, son." He replied, trying to stand up one of the two broken tables, but it fell over like a broken plastic toy.

"The other cat? Mei-Ling?" I asked, sitting up, wheezing, because I was clearly out of shape...  
"Is that her name?" Dad turned, holding his head in a hand. "Well, whoever she is, she owes me a new table! She came in here, calling for Master Tigress like some kind of school girl and totaled my table!"  
"Oh man, that sounds bad... She didn't do it on purpose did she?"  
"Who knows! But I'm an old man, I can complain can't I?" Dad threw up his hands, tossing a spoon in the air. "Oh! The spoon!"  
"Spoon?" I watched it falling and stuck my hand out to catch it, and I did... I guess I had good depth perception, but... mostly because I thought I saw a grain of rice on the spoon... And upon further inspection, I TOTALLY DID SEE A GRAIN OF RICE! Thank god for small miracles!

"Um... Son?" Dad patted my head, pulling the Spoon I was nursing on out of my mouth. "Will you have?"  
"Don't you mean, be-have?"  
"It means the same thing!" He squawked at me, and I flinched for a minute, but straightened up. I don't think Dad's ever really... ever... _hit_ me, but I still don't like to see him upset.

"So... Dad?" I began talking, finally getting up onto my aching feet. "What if I find this mysterious trickster for you?"  
"The what?" He looked at me, completely confused.  
"Yeah-" I took a Dragon Warrior's pose. I'm not fully certain what a Dragon Warrior's pose would be, but... I took one anyway. "I could catch this trickster and convert them from their selfish, destructive ways and enlist them into a plight for justice!"  
"Plight...? Son, I don't believe that's proper Chinese."

"None of this is proper Chinese!" I interrupted my father, "But if I must convert a lovely woman away from a life of Crime, I must do it as improperly as possible!"  
"Ah..." Dad paused, "Phrasing... son?"  
"Oh-" I coughed into my fist. "What I meant to say was..." I was going to correct myself, but remembered something.

"Hey Dad, quick question- I saw Master Viper giving Master Monkey a blow-job earlier like... On the stairs on the way down here, and it took Me, Master Crane and Master Mantis all working together to get Viper off of Monkey."  
". . . ?!" Dad simply started at me, completely floored by what I was saying.  
"I know right!" I exclaimed, "So … What I'm asking is... Are blowjobs painful? Because Monkey was bleeding a little bit when we got Viper off."

Dad looked around the store, wide eyes, jaw dropped and completely silent. He slowly coughed and brushed off his apron.  
"Um..." He began, scratching the back of his head. "A... blowjob should... uh..." He began to stammer.  
"Ah come on, Dad... I'm not a little kid. You can tell me if a blowjob is supposed to hurt or n-"  
"By the emperor son! Lower your voice!" Dad squawked at me again, making me flinch. He cleared his throat again and turned around. "And... Like I was going to say earlier..."

"Yeah?" I leaned forward as he leaned towards me, starting to whisper.  
"You'll understand when you're older." He said plainly in my ear.

My shoulders slumped as I rolled my eyes. "Aaawwww, Daaaaad." I whined, trying to get my way, but it wasn't working... Sadly.  
"Son. You're too old to be asking your father those types of questions. I remember when you were nine, I asked if you wanted to learn about the Birds and the Bees, or if you wanted more Kung-Fu Comic Books and you asked for-"  
"Kung-Fu Comic Books..." I groaned, remembering that day... The new Quan, the Unkillable, Comic Scroll was out and I wanted to read it, and it-was-_Awesome!_

"Then... When you were eleven, I asked you if you wanted to hear about Romance for Adults, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms! And you said-"  
I cut my Dad off again, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms..."  
"Which sounded absolutely fantastic at first, until I discovered remembered it was about the Great Battles of another age and NOT about the Romantic battle between a Student, Her Master and a Nobleman!"  
"Are you referencing that one book you r-"  
"YES!" Dad interrupted me this time. "And again, when you were sixteen. You asked for toys of The Furious Five... I started to get a bit excited when you asked for Master Tigress, but you immediately asked for the rest of them, and played with them like you were only six, and you were six-teen..."  
" . . . " I sat quiet, feeling low.  
"SIXTEEN!" Dad shouted again. I don't know how a simple question about blowjobs turned into a lecture about how immature I was. I hated these conversations.

"Son," Dad sighed deeply. "You need to stop playing with your toys, and go find a woman to get married to."  
"M-Married?! I'm Nineteen!" I argued.  
"Son, when I was twelve, I was doing things with my body that would make your head spin!"  
"Ooooo! Was it Kung-Fu!? I love Kung-Fu!" I asked excitedly... But... the look on my Dad's face clearly said that it _wasn't_ kung-fu he was talking about. He was making a dirty joke...It was like talking to a Monkey or Mantis that knew all about the times I wet the bed...

"Okay Dad," I sighed deeply. "I'll... I'll find a woman to Marry me. Will that make you get off my back?"  
"Not until you move out." Dad retorted.  
"Move out?!" I gasped.  
"Yes! Move out!" Dad spun around, staring up at me with a determined look in his eyes. "You think you're going to sleep above my kitchen your whole life? I mean, when you were my little panda pot, I didn't mind."

"GAAAH!" I held my ears with my paws. "Don't call me that, Dad! I'm not a baby!"  
"And-when you were my little Panda Pot. You would roll around your room, eating radish and looking just as cute as the day I f-... er... As the day you were born!"  
"Oh, by the emperor... Dad! Please... Stop calling me that. I'm not a baby anymore Dad." I groaned even louder.  
"You're right Po... I shouldn't call you my little Panda Pot anymore... I should call you _Ground Zero_, because I need to evict you or buy you a fart blanket... Do you know you fart in your sleep!?"

My fur stood on end in embarrassment. "I... wait.. No. No I don't!? Really?!"  
"Yes... It sounds like freakin' Gongmen, doing fire-works displays in your Bedroom on Bean Bun night." Dad started waving his arms around as he walked and talked.  
"Dad!" I tried to stop him.  
"And the smell, grrlllagh... Don't even get me _started_ on the smell. Like baby skunks, tossing old sweaty _Fundoshi_ around, while a whole days garbage cooks in the sun behind them."  
"Dad!"  
"Ohh... And Po, do you have any idea how bad your room looks? There are bowls everywhere! Do you want ants?!"  
"Dad! I'll clean my room." I lowered my head and covered my ears, because nothing was stopping this duck from ripping me up.  
"Because, son! That's... how you get ants!"

"Okay okay, Dad. I'm sorry. I'll … go out and live life, and … Find a woman, and be the Dragon Warrior, and uh... Clean my room like you want me to."  
"Okay son." Dad sighed, looking over at me, as I pouted. "And I'm sorry, but... you are growing up fast. You won't be able to live here forever."  
"I could... live in the Jade Palace." I thought out loud.  
"Is Shifu going to let you keep that many dirty bowls in your room too? Because he'll get ants." Dad retorted.

"No Dad... I'll clean both my rooms"  
"Both?" Dad laughed and patted my head. "Alright son, whatever you say. Just be sure to bring back a woman that's smart enough to take care of you."

"Haha, I will Dad, I will." So, without saying another word, I turned and left my Dad's noodle shop.

I luckily was able to escape my father's clutches before I was forced to clean my room. The Dragon Warrior didn't have the time to clean up rooms, he needed to be out fighting fights, and righting wrongs, and taming his wild lightning... Whatever that means. I'll get back to myself on that.

So I started walking around town, and came across an Alley. I turned to see what looked like someone was fighting. This was the perfect time for me to be, The Dragon Warrior. But I couldn't rush into the Alley like some kind of Panda, I needed to look the part of the Dragon Warrior... Although all I had on me were my wits, rugged good looks and the lungs of a rock star. And that's all I needed, so I was going to charge into the Alley but... when I turned to enter, there was no struggle to be seen.

As a matter of fact, all I saw was Master Tigress. She came out mumbling something about kissing but... I really wasn't entirely sure. When I go into _Dragon Warrior_ mode, my ears kind of … shut off.

"Hey, Tigress!" I said cheerfully walking up to her, and she totally punched me in the face.

"W-what?! PO?!" She gasped, as my head went sailing backwards and I found myself crashing into an empty apple cart. "What the?"  
"Oh gaaah, my nose...!" I groaned out loud again. But only because this actually hurt, It wasn't like I was playing it up when I was talking to my dad.  
"Wow... I uh..." Tigress was stammering, but I pulled myself to my feet, holding my aching nose.

"Heey, Tigress. It's ah... It's... no problem." I managed to speak, even though my whole skull was aching each time I moved my lips. Like, my skull was cracked... Which may not be an impossibility, Tigress does punch like a man.  
"No … problem." Tigress was looking up at me, folding her arms over her chest. "How is that so? I punched you eleven feet into an apple cart."  
"Oh it's no problem. I'm the Dragon Warrior after all." I declared, trying to look impressive by placing my hands on my hips, but I felt my nose running and covered it with both paws, feeling embarassed.

"Uh... Not to disturb your, Warrior Like Stances, or anything... But it looks like I broke your nose." Tigress sighed.  
"You... my... My nose? Is that what that was?" I gasped, trying to see my own nose while still covering it from Tigress' sight.  
"Yeah, Po. Blood... What did you think was leaking from your nose? Snot?" She was still staring up at me... like she was expecting an answer.

"You didn't?" I responded, and she groaned out loud.  
"Okay, look... As the Dragon Warrior, you have a certain reputation you're going to need to start upholding. One way to maintain a good reputation is to not _bleedeverywhere!"_

"Hey! I wasn't the one that punched me in the face!" I responded quickly, but... that response sounded a lot cooler in my head.  
"No, you clearly weren't, because that would be insane..." Tigress sighed deeply.  
"...Yeah, it would be. That's why I wouldn't do it. I'm the Dragon Warrior now, not some crazy psycho nut-head panda." I kept trying to think up cool things to say but... nothing was coming.

"Riiiiight." Tigress rolled her eyes, "So... Aren't you going to go home and clean up?"  
I thought about going home... But- Thinking of how upset my Dad was with me, and the fact that I skipped out on cleaning my room, he would certainly make me clean it up now.

"I—can't." I coughed into my bloody nose-blood fist.  
"You—cant?" Tigress sharped her gaze at me, glaring. "Why not?"  
"Well uh..." I pondered, needing a reason why I didn't want to go home. "I can't go home because... My dad is... still cleaning up his store. Yeah. Some bandits came through earlier and wrecked up the place but I ra-"  
"Bandits?" Tigress cut me off.

"Well... Bandit." I corrected myself, lying through my teeth. "But I ran him off."  
"Him?" Tigress again, cut me off.  
"Well... Yeah, it was a woman but... You know, as the Dragon Warrior, I can't go around sayin' I beat on girls."

"But you're perfectly capable and willing of going around, lying...?" Tigress corrected me again, raising her eyebrow at me, but somehow still managing to keep a frown on her face. All she needed to do was bare her fangs and I'd be running in fear from her _Sincere Face_.  
"Okay... So I didn't see any bandits." I admitted, "But how else am I going to be cool if I don't do cool stuff?"

"Kung-Fu isn't about being _cool,_ Po... It's about duty, patience, honor … and..." Tigress took a step back. "Not making a puddle of nose blood in the middle of the street."  
I gasped, noticing that I was bleeding all down the front of my stomach. I seriously needed to clean up.  
"Wow... I _really_ broke that nose of yours..." Tigress sighed once more, and started walking away.

"H-hey? Where you going?" I called after her, following without thinking. "You're not going to leave me here are you?"  
"As much as I'd like to... No. You can follow me, I know where you can bathe."  
"Oh uh... o-okay." I muttered, following after Master Tigress as she started up the Thousand Stairs towards the Jade Palace... … …

… I'd probably bleed out before we got where ever we were headed.

Surprisingly, it didn't take very long to reach the place Tigress wanted to take me to. It was the men's bath house. There was a hot spring like pool, a bath tub, a wash basin, a tanning rock, and like... three hundred towels folded into a swan shape. I was using the wash basin to clean off my bloody face, but I would need to soak in the bath tub in order to get all the blood out of my fur. Tigress was still hanging around outside of the bath house but I was wondering how long it would take for her to... _invite herself in._

"So... Tigress." I started talking, trying to get a conversation going, but before I could ask anything, she started talking.  
"No."

"What?" Did... she know I wanted her to come in here? … Naked?  
"No." She repeated herself.  
"Uh... No, what?"  
"No, I don't know why they do that."

"Uh... Do what?" I looked around, completely confused.  
"The Swans, right? The towels... Mantis and Monkey fold them like that. Even though they don't really use the bath house." Tigress explained.

"Oh!" I started to laugh, looking at all the towel swans sitting around the bath house. "Man... For how many towels that are folded up in here... This place looks so clean."  
"Yeah-" Tigress added. "It's because they don't use the bath house."  
"So..." I pondered out loud. "The towels are messed up, and the bath water is all clean because they don't take baths?"  
"Exactly. They come in here to play..." Tigress responded from outside, probably waiting for the perfect time to come in.

"So... Crane. He uses the bath house right?"  
"Only when no one else does. Otherwise he'll use his own cleansing supplies he keeps in his room... Personal Hygiene is very important to Master Crane."  
"But... not very important to Monkey or Mantis, apparently." I mumbled.  
"Apparently." Tigress responded, somehow hearing me.

I finally finished cleaning off my face and now it was time to get into the bath... But... Tigress was right outside the door. Like, no more than ten feet from me, and here I was... about to get completely nude. Was... she waiting for me to get naked? Or was she waiting for me to get in the tub? Was... … she naked? Tigress...

"So uh..." I scratched the back of my head nervously. "I guess it's time for me to hop in the tub."  
"Right. Well then, I'll be going." She responded and I almost started choking.  
"N-No wait!"

"Uh... why?" Tigress sighed. I could hear her annoyance through the rice paper walls, it was so thick in her voice I didn't even need to see it.  
"I... have a serious question for you Tigress."  
"_Oh god..._" She sighed again, "What is it—Po?"

"Well..." I was talking and getting nude at the same time. It wasn't the same as getting naked _infront _of her, but... it felt kind of hot. "I've been thinking about... Being the Dragon Warrior-"  
"News to me..." She groaned. "I thought this was serious, Po."  
"It is Serious! Just let me finish!"  
"Will you!?"  
"CAN I?!" I shouted, growing irritated for... no real reason. I know I shouldn't be yelling at Tigress, because she could very easily beat me up, or just walk away. But thankfully, she just took another, of probably a thousand, deep sighs and asked me to continue.

"Well... If you've got something to discuss, do it quickly. I have a lot on my mind too."

"Okay well... Do you think, Tai-Lung is still … _alive?_" I asked, while stepping into the bath tub and sinking into the pre-warmed water.  
". . . " Tigress was silent. I almost expected her to start laughing, or at least sighing deeply again and talking in a dismissing tone, but instead; she kept silent. Was... she worried about the same things I was?

"Tigress? You alright?" I called out to her.  
"Yes... I'm fine." She responded. "Just... … I don't know."

"You don't?" I was right, she was thinking about the same thing I was. "Do... you think he'll come back?"  
"He may..."  
"Am I in Danger?" I asked, concerned.  
"Are you kidding? You're the one who defeated him. Of course you're in danger... Tai-Lung is a dangerous man, and if he comes back, he'll certainly come looking for you."

"Oh god... You're right. He's... going to be pissed. He's going to come back and kill me!" I grew nervous, not really knowing what to say or what to think. Tai-Lung was a frightening enemy and I defeated him once but... Could I do it again? Especially if his resolve was to kill me, and not to go after a fake scroll?

"Are you afraid?" Tigress called out to me.  
"What?"  
"Are—you—afraid?" She repeated herself, slower.  
"Well... Yeah I'm afraid. What if he tries to kill me?"

Tigress laughed a little from outside the bath house. "Oh, if he tries, he'll probably kill you."  
"What? He was trying to kill me before!" I argued a little.  
"He was tired, Po... Tai-Lung was very tired, very upset... Very... alone." I could hear Tigress' voice start to fade, like she was sweeping back into her own mind and losing touch with reality. Or like her voice was fading because she was getting deep in thought.

"Tigress!" I called out to her.  
"I'm right here, Po... You don't have to shout."  
"Well I'm worried. I'm the Dragon Warrior, and... if I didn't kill Tai-Lung. How will anyone recognize me as being a great warrior?"

Tigress sighed. Again, I could almost taste her disapproval.  
"Well first of all-" Tigress sounded like she was going to start chewing me out. "You should stop lying."  
"Lying!? I really am afraid, Tigress!" I argued back at her, feeling insulted that she challenged my honor.  
"Not about that! I mean about earlier when you told me male bandits raided your father's store!" Tigress roared back, killing my argument, and now I felt like an ass, since she called me out again... in a lie.

"Well... Someone _did_ bust up my Dad's shop."  
"I know... I was there..." Tigress groaned.  
"And you didn't stop them?!" I was appalled.  
"It was _Mei-Ling_... you idiot... And it was an accident..."

"Mei-Ling?!" I gasped... forgetting I already knew about that. "Oh right, Mei-Ling. Dad told me that."  
"You knew?!" Tigress groaned, "Then why were you lying!?"  
"Because I wanted to impress you!" I confessed, not even thinking about what I was saying.

"Impress **ME?!**" Tigress scoffed, "How are you going to do that, if you get sent sailing from a sucker punch?!"  
"A sucker punch that you never apologized for!" I retorted quickly, catching her in a lie.  
"Why do I need to apologize?! You surprised me!"  
"Do you always punch when you get surprised?!"

"YES!" She stomped her foot down.  
I sighed, "Well... SORRY for frightening you, Master Tigress."  
"I wasn't frightened! I was surprised!" She growled.  
"Well... isn't that the same thing?!"  
"NO!"  
"Yes it is!"  
"NO IT'S NOT!"

I groaned out loud this time, lowering my head, and planting my face in the bath water. I pulled back, coughing hard and hacking.

"Gah... Ball water!"  
"Ball—what?" Tigress coughed from outside.  
"Uh... _nothing!_" I shut my eyes, praying Master Tigress wouldn't start ragging on me for drinking my own bath water.

"Haha, what? You just drank your own bath water!" She started ragging on me.  
"Oh ha-ha … Like you've never drank your own bath water."  
"Obviously not." Tigress retorted.

"How is that possible?!"  
"Because... I don't take baths!"

It was my turn to start coughing. "Um... what?"

"Oh grow up... I bathe like the Japanese. It's not called a bath."  
"O-kay... So what's it called?" I asked, kind of interested.  
"Alright well... It's called a bath... But they're preformed completely differently. We don't actually _soak_ in water, until after we're completely clean." Tigress was both explaining, and arguing, at the same time. That's why she was a Master.

"So, let me get this straight. You don't get in the water until you're clean..."  
"Yeah?"  
"And you can't get clean without getting in the water, right?"  
"Uh... no. We get clean by sitting on a stool, and bathing."

I paused for a minute, trying to figure out how I'd get my fat butt on a stool.

"I don't get it."  
I heard Tigress make a thump. She probably fell against the door, hopefully not irritated again. "Po... You sit, on a stool. You clean your body. You rinse off, then you soak in a hot tub."  
"Whoa... Really?" That sounded so awesome.  
"Yes—really." She sighed.  
"Man, I should start taking those."

"Actually—you shouldn't." Tigress cleared her throat. "You're not Japanese."  
"Well neither are you! Aren't you Chinese!" I stood up from the tub. Completely thankful that Tigress wasn't able to see my naked nudity.  
"Yes... Technically. But I speak Japanese fluently."

"Ah, now who's lying?" I grinned.  
Tigress sighed deeply, and started talking in some kind of crazy language... like Psycho Babble. But it actually did kind of sound like it was... well no Japanese, more like backwards or something.

"Wait..." I paused, "Was that Japanese you were speaking?"  
"I was cursing, not speaking... But yes..."  
"Why does it sound backwards?"  
"Because Japanese words are mostly insults in Chinese..." Tigress stood up again, dusting herself off... I had no idea how my eye sight was so good through a door and rice paper walls.

"Oh... well... What are Chinese words in Japanese?"  
"Mostly Psycho babble." She sighed. "You sound like an insane person, speaking Chinese to a Japanese person."  
"Really? How do you know all this?" I inquired, sinking back down in the water.  
"Because I've traveled all over China. As the Leader of the Furious Five, I have to know multiple languages."

"What languages do you know?" I asked another question. I was on a streak of questions that was guaranteed to tie her down until I was done bathing. Then I could be awesome infront of her again. . . or... at least for a first time.  
"Japanese. Chinese. Thai. Mongolian. And Southern Chinese... or... Indian." She read off.  
"Wow... how do you know all those languages?"  
"I picked them up at some point. I don't actually remember... learning them here. I guess I learned all the languages when I was in-"  
"Bao Gu Orphanage?" I interrupted.

"..." Tigress fell silent again.  
"Uh... Tigress? You okay?" I called out to her, but heard nothing.

I was going to step out of the tub, but suddenly I saw the door knob turning.

"W-whoa whoa Tigress! I'm in the tub!" I shouted, for some reason... But my shouts went unnoticed. Tigress suddenly opened the door and slowly started storming towards me, kicking my bloody clothes out of the way as she came up to the bath tub and started to glare directly into my eyes.

"T-Tigress?" I gulped, not understanding her sudden rage.  
"How do you know about Bao-Gu Orphanage?" She growled at me.

"W-what?" I gasped, and she suddenly slammed a paw down on the tub, forcing it to splash ball-water right into my face.  
"HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BAO-GU ORPHANAGE?!" She shouted at me again.  
"What!? I-" I couldn't speak. She slapped the tub again, getting more of my swampy ball water in my face. It smelled and tasted terrible, and it was probably why I've never even gotten to kiss a girl. But even worse, Tigress was terrifying the life out of me.

"SAY WHAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU!" She was growling deeply.  
"I-" I tried to talk, but couldn't get a word in.  
"I DOUBLE DARE YOU, YOU FAT IDIOT! SAY WHAT _ONE MORE TIME!_"  
"Okay Okay!" I inhaled deeply, nearly hyper-ventilating.

"Now tell me... **How do you know about **_**Bao-Gu Orphanage!**_" She hissed low at me, still frightening the daylights out of me.  
"I know because... because... I'm a huge fan!" I admitted. I really was a big fan of Master Tigress, or really... All the Furious Five, but I liked her the best.  
"You're a huge fan?! Do you idolize me like Mei-Ling!?" She continued to hiss.  
"Y-yes?" I guessed, I had no idea how much Mei-Ling was into Master Tigress, but it couldn't possibly be as much as me.

"You do?" She leaned away from me, eyes burning with hate and anger. "So. You idolize me."  
"Yes." I quickly replied.  
"And you adore me?"  
"Yes."  
"So you know everything about me, and my past?"

"Yes!" I called out again, hoping I was answering right as much as possible.  
"Do you think I'm a _Murderer_?" She growled at me.  
"What!?" I reared back in confusion, but without having time to get a response, Tigress grabbed the back of my head and shoved it into the ball-water bath water.

I pulled my head out as quickly as I could, coughing hard once again... The taste of my own ball sweat was horrifying, and I knew I needed to start taking better care of myself. But even more worrying was how upset, Tigress got with me. I looked up, to see her storming out and whipping one of her arms around in the air, trying to shake the bath water out of her fur.

"I'm sorry!" I called after her.  
"_NEVER_ talk about my past, Po." She growled and stormed out, stopping to glare back at me when she reached the door way. "_Ever._"

With that last word, she vanished and walked away... Leaving me alone and naked with so many questions unasked and unanswered.

And I was kind of turned on, she did put her hands on the back of my head and shove—wait... No, never mind, that's not hot at all.

I was finally out of the tub, and in a pair of freshly washed, but still wet, shorts... Master Tigress was no where to be seen, and the Jade Palace was glowing with activity. The palace staff was moving all around to get the place cleaned up, but Tai-Lung had made a serious mess of the joint when he came through for the Dragon Scroll. The ducks and pigs were trying their best to move some of the larger debris out of the way, and weren't making any progress; so I decided to step in and help the only way I knew how.

By being awesome.

So I stepped up, and helped a few ducks push a broken slab of stone off the stairs and onto a service cart, so they could carry it away from the Hall of Warriors. With a little effort, and some heavy clenching, I was able to move the stone and everyone cheered. One duck even decided to pat me on the back to thank me for my efforts. But because the duck was short, he could only reach my … _lower_ lower back, and when he touched my soaked shorts, he sort of jumped back and wretched in disgust. But... He still smiled anyway and ran off... Leaving the other ducks to do the work for him. What a slacker.

So, ignoring the thought that that duck may have thought that I'd pissed myself. I decided to venture further into the Hall of Heroes, looking around for Master Monkey, or Master Mantis, but I couldn't find anyone I was looking for, not even Master Crane or Master Viper. So instead of loitering, or … embarrassing myself any more, I left the Hall of Warriors and headed to the Living Quarters, thinking there may be someone there. Maybe then I would be able to tell someone about what Shifu told me.

So they could hear about chi, and about Tai-Lung.

I also had some other things to ask them about but... I really didn't know how to phrase it.

I mean, Tigress is hot, and she was with me in the bath house but she was only there because she got like... Super mad that I talked about her past, so … I wonder, what about Tigress' past makes her so … upset? I mean, I know _everything_ about Master Tigress, but I can't see what would make her so mad... Well, aside from not knowing who her real parents were, or why she was abandoned. I mean, I'm so glad that I've always been with my Dad, and we're happy the way we are.

Then there was Mei-Ling I wanted to talk about. I would think it's a smart idea to talk to Crane, but … I think Viper may be with Crane and I don't want to bring up Mei-Ling with Viper around, she might get upset. But... Mei-Ling is really mysterious too. I mean, I saw her sniffing around and there's no telling why. If she was looking for the Furious Five, she could have just asked someone instead of sniffing and searching, right? Maybe? Nah, probably not.

And even more on my mind than hot girls... Was Tai-Lung. Not because he's hot, because... He's not, I mean... did you see his mustache? But really, I'm worried about him coming back. If I didn't kill him, then he'll come back to kill me, and... I'm awesome. I'm the Dragon Warrior, I don't want to die.

While talking to myself in my own head, I managed to wander all the way to the Living Quarters, where I overheard Viper and Crane speaking, talking about something... But Crane sounded like he was in pain. Was Viper hurting him?

I thought about bursting into the room, but... if Viper really was hurting him, there would be no way I'd want to attack Viper. But... Master Crane was my … uh... friend, so I couldn't allow him to be hurt... Could I? Instead, I decided to check for Mantis and Viper, and neither of them were to be found in the building, but I could still hear Crane moaning out in pain, while Viper was hissing and saying stuff that sounded... Naughty.


	5. Chapter 5

- 5 -

_Mei-Ling . . . _

So, I always have this feeling that something is following me. Ever since I left the Valley of Peace, I could have sworn that there was something, or someone behind me. Every time I turn around, I don't see anything but... I always feel some kind of presence. But... I only began to feel this presence when I entered the Valley of Peace, like... something was watching over the valley. Was it a spiritual protector?

I glanced around again while I was standing on top of, an abandoned shrine. I don't believe the Valley of Peace was protected by any spirits, or at least no spirits I could see. I was aware that the Great Grand Master Oogway passed away not long ago, but as a spirit he would possess an incredible amount of chi. So I wouldn't actually be able to detect him. High level spirits are practically invisible to anyone who isn't powerful enough to detect them. But if there was any other spirits around, I would be able to detect them.

I scanned the horizon and the surrounding area, and I couldn't see anything following me, and I couldn't detect anything near me... Similar to the spirits and undead, the living can be detected just the same. And unknown to everyone, including the Furious Five, I actually have an outrageously high amount of chi. As much as I feel my heart, that I love that goofy Crane, or that I want to sexually tame Master Tigress... I could actually crush them both, and their allies, in a single five on one fight. And because of all this power, I'm deeply confused on this energy that I am feeling.

When I stand near Crane, I can barely feel his energy past his heart beat. When I was mounting and kissing Master Tigress, I could feel a feint amount of her chi past her burning sexual passion... And the same goes for everyone else I interacted with. When I dove past Mister Ping, and avoided every swing he threw at me with expert skill. If my eyes weren't open, I would have never known he was there. The only person that had me even slightly worried was that Dragon Warrior. His chi was invisible, so I didn't even hear him coming when I was scanning the area, but a single punch put him down. Although, not for very long...

Considering that he woke up in only about ten seconds, meant that he was either, some kind of legendary warrior, or just a glutton for pain.

I took a moment to gaze around for a third time, and I could still feel this... dark, chilling presence following me, but I had no idea who it was or what it could be. Spirit, living person, or something else entirely... I wasn't aware in the least, but I did know that I didn't like it, and there was no way I was sleeping alone tonight. I pulled my black cloak around my body and spun off the shrine and onto the ground. Without wasting time, I broke out in a mad dash, following the road East, out of the Valley of Peace.

Taking the Eastern Road, Old Rice Road, would usually be the path that would take travelers, merchants and … sadly enough, even bandits, towards Sun-Lo Village. Although, I shouldn't worry about Sun-Lo, I left my best student in charge while I left. She was a violent, unhindered, and sometimes a bit chaotic, woman, but she was very skilled and capable of defending my home in my stead. Her power was also very impressive, unlike the Furious Five, I could feel her energy through homes, hovels and houses. So there was nothing to worry about.

However... What was worrying was the fact that, no matter how far I ran, or how fast I was moving... This sense of dread never left my side. As if the dark clothes brandished on my person were actually living curses. But that couldn't be. The afternoon sky was growing slightly dimmer, and becoming a purpleish hue, signaling that the sun was preparing to set and cast the world into darkness. I had promised Master Tigress that I would steal her away and treat her to a private viewing of my personal appreciation, but... There was no way I was doing it in the Valley of Peace.

At first I thought it was because I didn't want to _operate_ so close to the Furious Five, but now I know it's because I feel like I'm being watched.

So, the first place I thought of going was a business just outside the Valley by a few miles. It was owned by a, powerless, but incredibly kind and muscular panda, that was actually pretty easy on the eyes. He introduced himself as Wonton Rin, and he was building the business all by himself, as some sort of job or hobby. I wasn't perfectly aware of what he was planning, but he had no qualms about working and being alone. But what I was aware of, was that he was building an inn, and if there was no ominous presence when I arrived, then I would surely bring Master Tigress back with me.

Although before I realized it, I had actually arrived at the panda's place of business. He was outside at the time, hanging a sign out front that read '_The Rin Inn'_, it was cute and had a nice ring to it. But I was still feeling dread. Regardless, I decided to approach the owner anyway.

"Um. Hi!" I opened up, walking up to him quickly.  
"Oh?" He spun around to face me, giving me a bright confident smile. "Hello, Miss Mei-Ling."

I blinked, impressed that he remembered me. "You remember my name?" I was flattered, and was hoping I was showing it in my voice.  
"Oh, I always remember a pretty face." He responded, still with that confident smile on his face. It wasn't nearly as sexy as it could be, but I was very impressed by it.

"Oh you~" Then I realized he just hit on me, and felt even more flattered than before. "I bet you say that to all the girls."  
"No, nothing like that. Besides, I just officially opened." He said, turning back around, turning his handsome face away from me, and towards his building. "The Rin Inn is open for business!"  
"Well that's good, because-" I grabbed at him, spinning his vision back towards me. "I was... well, thinking of..." I smiled up at him, trying to look seductive. "Renting a room."

"Oh were you?" He continued to smile, placing his paws on his hips, somehow unfazed by my open sexuality towards him.  
"Yeah, I am." I smiled myself, stepping back to take in the full vision of him. "What are your rates?"

"Well..." He began to talk, so I shut my ears off for a moment so I could admire him. He was a very tall man, much taller than I was. A typical panda in roughly every right, since he was two toned. With a white head, and stomach, but he had black arms, legs and a black chest. But unlike other Pandas, like the _Dragon Warrior_, he was very handsome, and had muscles about him. His arms were taut and his legs were firm. The slight glance I got at his buttocks indicated that he actually had one. And with my kind of imagination, I could tell that he was probably hung well between the legs. I wish I could temporarily trade my amazing strength, for X-Ray vision but... then I would be defeating the purpose of clothing. Although he did look handsome in his long dark pants, and no shirt.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" I heard him calling to me, as I turned my ears back on.  
Without wasting a moment, I held my head in my paws and stumbled towards him like I was dizzy. And, without wasting a moment, he stepped forward to grab me in his strong arms.

Oh my, were his arms strong... and soft. They felt like warm blankets around my cloaked body as he picked me up like I was a baby kitten. My mind swam for a moment in bliss. It was very different to actually be the woman in some kind of sexual, or rather, emotional situation. I was usually always the one on the giving end, since I had such an authoritative personality, but... a man who could make me feel like a woman nearly always won out over me being the dominatrix.

"Oh wow, you're so strong Mr. Rin." I swooned at him.  
"Hey, you can just call me, Wonton. I prefer it, over being formal." He smiled down at me.

"Okay, Wonton." I felt my heart throbbing. God, how come I was so horny all the time?  
"So, let's get you inside. And... did you hear anything about my rates? Or were you passing out?"  
"Hehe, I think I was busy passing out, I'm sorry." I lied, I was eyeing him up, but if he was stupid enough to believe it, that was fine with me. "So... What are your rates?"

"Well, like I said before, I just opened and well... I haven't set prices yet, so … for you, let's say it's free." He said while carrying me through the front door and into the lobby of his business.

The building was actually far more stunning that I originally predicted. There was a small fireplace, a large shaggy rug, bamboo furniture, a small good-luck shrine, news scrolls from across the lands sitting in a bamboo rack, and … believe it or not, weapons. The lobby had black clad weapons across the ceiling, and upper walls, that resembled weapons that I had seen in the past. They were of almost unrealistic quality, and he had the largest collection of them that I had ever seen. However, even with all the weapons present against the bamboo furniture, there was one thing that was more stunning than the rest.

Behind the main service counter, as if it wasn't supposed to be counted with the rest of the decorations, was a large map of China and a few surrounding areas and islands. There were multiple locations pointed to, circled, crossed out, and marked with red ink all over it, that would probably mean nothing to an average person. But the map was impressively made and highly detailed. It had a small tally system that counted out the general occupancy of all towns and provinces in the surrounding areas. And the names of the Masters, Leaders, Armies and the Greatest threats highlighted.

It was an Assassin's Map, and I was able to see all of this before Wonton was even able to put me down.

"Wow." I gasped, glancing around the interior for a second time. "You certainly have impressive furnishings, Wonton."  
"Why thank you, Ma'am." He replied, slowly setting me down back onto my feet.  
"Oh, don't call me Ma'am, handsome. You can call me Mei-Ling, I prefer it." I winked at him, and he smiled in return... All he did was smile.

"Well, I only have three room available, but they're all fully stocked with uh... A large comfy bedroll, curtains for your window, and a tea set. I serve breakfast in the morning." He said, scratching the back of his head like he was nervous.  
"Oh, breakfast too? How nice." I smiled, approaching him again, and I began to run a finger around on his chest. "So..."

"Yes?" He looked down at me, still smiling handsomely.  
"I understand that you're willing to give me the room for free, but I'd feel really bad taking the room without compensation."  
"No, it's fine—really!" He urged on, but I leaned in towards him, looking seductive again.  
"Well, I feel bad taking the room without compensation," I repeated myself. "Especially considering I was thinking of inviting another girl to share it with me tonight."

"No it-" He paused, apparently finally hearing what I was saying. "Really?" He coughed into his fist. "Well, whatever you want to do in that room is your business still, Mei-Ling. I'm just the owner. So... That's fine too, really!"  
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "Because... I don't really plan on _sleeping."_ I implied.  
"I understand that." He responded, chuckling to himself, probably just being polite.  
"So... you're perfectly okay with me having se-"

He cut me off. "Miss Mei-Ling. I am incredibly fine with what you do in that room. No matter what, I can probably clean it, and since there's no other people here as of yet, you can well . . . be as loud as you want, just don't destroy the room. Please."  
"Destroy?" I paused myself, not actually certain how tough and destructive Master Tigress may become when she's thrown into the passion of an explosive girl on girl orgasm for the first time. The poor thing. "Well, Wonton. I don't plan to, but if the room is damaged, I promise to compensate you in a way most pleasant." I said with a wink.

He smiled and began talking with his eyes completely shut. "I … ah."  
I leaned in towards him again, whispering. "However, or … whatever you'd like."  
"Well." He began, "I am trying to make money. So … if the room is destroyed, I'll just bill you the damages." He said, coughing into his fist.

I backed off, scratching the back of my head, with a small chuckle. Being turned down wasn't something I was completely used to, or at least... Not from anyone that wasn't Crane. "Heh so... I see."

I perked up quickly though, realizing that the dread I was feeling outside, I wasn't feeling in here. "I'll rent a room on the second floor, and I'll return as soon as I am able, preferably before the sunsets."  
"I'll have your room ready for when you return Miss Mei-Ling." Wonton grinned, showing me the exit by opening the door like a gentleman.  
"Why thank you. I'll be back soon, handsome." I said, leaving him with a flick of the tip of my tail against his chin and nose, as I darted off into the woods.

I didn't exactly hear what Wonton said as I was leaving, which is surprising since my ears are big, but … It was probably something about needing to _spank it_, because I'm damn sexy.

And now that I was outside, I was feeling that sense of dread again. Like there was a bomb rigged to explode the minute I stopped traveling at a super high speed, or like the moon was brandishing a giant demon face and was slowly crashing down on China, with the intent of killing everyone. Well, I still wasn't sure what the uneasy feeling was, but... that didn't matter, at the Rin Inn, I couldn't feel a thing. That place is a bright light in the middle of a dark fog, and I wanted to take Tigress there, and make her beg.

...sexually, of course.

But... I still couldn't shake this feeling. . .

What was following me? Was it Tai-Lung, could he still be alive?

I stopped when I heard a sudden thump behind me, and I spun on a dime to face the danger. But I wasn't really sure what I was facing at first when I saw it...

Immediately, I knew it was an Assassin standing in front of me, but why would an Assassin come after me? Especially an assassin I couldn't even detect.

"You." I called out, "I don't know who you are, but you should get out of here... I know what I'm doing, and I don't need anyone interfering with my night tonight."  
"..." The figure didn't respond. Which was unnerving, but I didn't have time for this.  
"Look, I don't know who you are, but whoever you're working for should stay out of my business." I turned away from them, to leave, but when I turned around, there was another Assassin standing in front of me. I jumped back in fear, not realizing that someone had snuck up behind me. I hated the fact that I was so powerful I couldn't detect low levels, and sometimes I was completely unaware of my surroundings, especially in crowded places.

"Gah... By the emperor." I exhaled deeply. "You nearly scared the spots off of me. Sorry about almost running into you, but you're too weak for me to detect."  
"..." The second figure didn't respond either, so I simply walked around them, talking out loud and pulling my cape around me and pulling the attached hood over my head.  
"That's why some people think I'm a bit of a bubble-head, since I sometimes trip into people, or don't realize that someone is in my path when I'm walking and not watching where I'm going. So, you'll have to excuse me." I turned back to look at them, but only saw the second guy I had passed, and not the first.

"Wha?" I thought to myself, but shrugged it off, and when I turned back to look where I was going, I nearly ran into a third guy.

"J-JEEZ! By the emperor! What's with you weaklings getting in my way?!" I said, completely irritated.  
"..." The third figure was also quiet.  
"Look dude. I don't really have time for this, you and your tw-" I began to talk, but decided to look behind me... And realized that there was no one behind me... And when I turned back around, I saw the _third_ guy still standing there.

"W-what the?!" I gasped, suddenly growing scared. I … wasn't seeing three people, it was actually just one guy. Somehow moving so fast I never noticed... But that couldn't be possible.  
"Weak, am I?" He spoke in a deep tone.  
"Holy crap!" I shouted and pushed past him in a frantic attempt to get to the Valley of Peace, but it was completely useless even trying. When I got within grabbing distance, I was seized and slung to my butt in a moment, by my attacker grabbing my arm.

I tried fighting back, attempting to punch the faceless Assassin in the void within his mask, because there should be a head in there. But when I punched, he grabbed my other arm, and twisted it behind my back and slung me around in the air like I was a big-eyed rag doll and forced me to the ground for a second time.

"W-what are you doing!? Stop! You don't have to fight me!" I begged, and felt my attacker, tightening his grip on my arms. "Stop it!" I shouted, scared out of my mind. How was this possible? He was planning something, and there was nothing I could do to fight back. I had no idea what he was planning, and if not for the fact that he was dragging me up off the ground like I was a captive bandit, I wouldn't even know he was there. His power... it was greater than mine, that's why I couldn't detect him. He pulled me onto my feet, and pulled off my mask, while holding my arms with just one of his hands. He was invisible to me... Somehow, I was so dramatically weak compared to this man, that when I closed my eyes... I couldn't even detect his presence.

My mask was off, my arms were bound, and I felt completely powerless... I should have stayed with Wonton for the night. I knew it was a bad idea to come out again, and I really just wanted to escape this nightmare.

"Stop it! Please, stop it!" I shouted, shaking my head around violently, so he wouldn't do to me, whatever he was planning. But I felt his strong hand tightening around my chin for a moment, holding my head still. In a very calm, completely villain like voice, he said...  
"Shh... I'm not going to hurt you."

I opened one eye slowly, "Y-you're not?" I asked, peering into the literal black void of a faceless mask. He was wearing the assassin clothing that all assassins were obligated to wear whenever they were out in the world, which meant I had no idea who he was, what he looked like, or if he was smiling, frowning, or licking his lips in a sinister pre-rape plot. But he leaned in towards me... I cringed, and felt soft lips against my forehead for a moment.

"W-wha?" I gasped, feeling a warm rush over-take my body... I was getting horny again... _DAMN MY BODY! _"What are you doing!?" I gasped and pulled away from him. Surprisingly, I was let go, and stumbled around for a bit, before backing away from him while keeping my eyes on him.  
"..." He was quiet again.  
"Oh no... I know your game. You're not going to get the drop on me this time you weirdo." I glared at him, walking backwards without turning around or blinking. "Because I know you're going to be RIGHT behind me as soon as I turn around. I'm not falling for that again!" I shouted at him, and his only response was to shrug his shoulders from where he was standing.

I growled a bit, and paused... keeping my eyes on him... Then I turned and started running at break-neck speeds. Thankfully I actually escaped him this time...

My heart was pounding in fear, but my body was completely hot and bothered... I barely knew which part of me to listen to. My brain, that was telling me to haul ass? My heart, that was telling me that I actually wasn't in danger? Or my vulva, that was telling me to drop to my knees... Well, I certainly wasn't listening to that vulva of mine, because running like hell was clearly the best option.

And again, because I wasn't paying attention, I found myself only six feet outside the Valley of Peace. As a matter of fact, I could see Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop, and I could even see customers walking into it. Even... if those customers were tall, purple haired females carrying giant Gourds... Which was weird but... I didn't really have any time to soak up to local color. I wasn't comfortable in the Valley of Peace, and I certainly wasn't comfortable on Old Rice Road, so my job now was to pick up Tigress and get back to Wonton's.

Because if there was anything that was going to get me to sleep tonight, it was going to be some hot sex, and lying in the arms of someone that I... actually, I care about. But now that I think about it... Should I take Master Tigress, or Master Crane...

… or both?


	6. Chapter 6

[ A/N: I appreciate the interest in the story, and I apologize for the slow updates. But the reason I've been updating slowly is because I figured no one was reading. lol, I'm actually on chapter 17 but hey... things like this happen. So, I've decided to drop Chapter 5 and 6 at the same time for fun ... and included the note about it in Chapter 6 because . . . why not. Thanks again, and enjoy. ]

[ Oh, and I cut out the sex scene. Sorry. ]

-6-

_Tigress . . . _

"A blowjob? Are you serious?"  
"Yeah man, totally! That's what was happening!"  
"Yeah... Happening... Sure."  
"Ah he's just mad he was getting it up to his shoulders!"  
"You mean, down to my hips... Her entire mouth was all over me, man!"

"Oh dude, I was _so_ there. And I was _so_ jealous!"  
"NO YOU WEREN'T!"  
"Well... no, I actually wasn't. But I'm sure _some_ of it felt good."  
"No... Not really. If that was supposed to be what a Blowjob was, then there's no man alive that would want one."

"So... wait... That _wasn't_ a blowjob?"

I couldn't take it anymore...

"**NO! PO! THAT WAS **_**NOT **_**A BLOWJOB!**"

This _guy talk, _I was listening to was about as stupid as listening to Master Shifu teaching sexual education. Which... on second thought, was the worst seven minutes of my life, and I wish I could unhear the things I heard that afternoon. The guys probably had no idea I was actually in my room, but even still... Anyone could sneak into the Living Quarters and hear a conversation through these ultra thin walls. Which... is actually what spurned the worst seven minutes of my life.

"Uh... Tigress?" I heard Monkey, calling out to me.  
"Yeah?" I answered, putting as much venom in my voice as possible.  
"How long you been in there?"  
"Long enough to know that you're completely insane..." I put my paws to my face, even though they clearly couldn't see me doing it.

"Hey hey!" Monkey began to defend himself. "I wasn't saying it was a blow-job! How am I to blame here?!"  
I rolled my eyes, "You were the one who provoked Viper in the first place."  
"How?!"  
"By calling her cute when she was _clearly_ upset!" I responded, punching the floor.

"Gah!" Monkey gasped, at the thump, since I hit the board that Monkey was resting his tail on while doing one of his classic, Tail Stands.  
"Well... Yeah, actually... I do see how you brought that upon yourself, dude." Mantis laughed.

"So..." Po, started talking. "What's a blowjob, then?"  
"Oh man... You wanna hear about a BLOWJOB!" Mantis started talking, like he was two seconds from bragging.  
"Man-tis..." I hissed at the joining wall.

"Uh... Yeah, Tigress?" He spoke like he was laughing, and nervous at the same time.  
"Don't finish your sentence... Just go on letting him believe what he wants to believe."  
"Awww, Tigress!" Po started whining.

"Shut up, Po! I'm not your father!" I growled, not wanting to hear his whining, because it wasn't going to work on me.  
"Jeez..." Monkey muttered. "Well Tigress... What would _you_ prefer us talk about? I mean... This is _Guy Talk_, and you don't want us to talk about our Genitals."

I coughed into my fist. "You can't talk about them because Mantis can't use his without taking off his own head! So that's just being rude." I retorted to my idiot friend, Monkey.  
"Hey, Tigress. I find it sweet that you care so much about my sexuality."  
"Your wh-?!" I began to argue, but Mantis cut me off.  
"But I'm a Kung-Fu Master. I've known how to get off without removing my head for like... weeks!"

I started to laugh, "Wait... What?"  
"Oh yeah. It's easy!" Mantis started bragging.  
"So … What does that mean? You have to … remove your head to...?" Po began asking open ended questions.

"Po..." I cut in, "Mantis... is a Mantis."  
"I'M A MANTIS?!" Mantis gasped out loud.  
"Hey—Ass." I grunted. "I was talking to the Dragon Warrior."

"Yeah, about sex" Monkey started to laugh.  
"If not me, then who? You two studs?" I responded, with a grin on my face... Too bad they couldn't see it. And too bad I couldn't see them, because they shut up quick.

"So... Yeah, Mantis is a bug, so what?" Po asked.  
"As a Praying Mantis... in order for him to … … uh..." I paused to look for a word.

"Get off?" Po, quipped.  
"Well ye-" I was cut off.  
"Blow?" Monkey commented.  
"...Ye-" I was cut off again.  
"Cream?" Mantis added.  
"Blast?" Monkey spoke.  
"Explode with fury!" Mantis laughed, adding again.

"Wait... he does what?" Po asked, probably scratching his head.  
"Will you two shut up, you're confusing him!" I growled, feeling slightly irritated again.  
"Okay okay, Tigress." Mantis was laughing still. "Sorry."

"Are you done?" I grunted.  
"I'm not!" Monkey cut in, then cleared his throat. . . and we sat in silence for a moment.

. . .

I opened my mouth, "Are you do-" And Monkey cut me off with his last entry.  
"Cum." He stated, then shut up.  
"God..." I groaned. "Yes Po, Cum is what we were getting at. Mantis has to rip his own head off, if he wants to CUM!"

"Whoa..." Po said, probably amazed. "That's so metal."  
"Totally metal." Monkey added.  
"You have _no_, idea!" Mantis was probably flexing with success right now.

"No!" I cut in. "It's not Metal! It's no where near, Metal! It's biology... And it's natural!"

"You mean masturbation?" Mantis asked.  
"Mas-mastur—WHAT?!" I gasped.  
"You mean _Chronic Masturbation._" Monkey, apparently, had to correct Mantis.  
"Oh right. Heh, I think I jerk it like... six times a-"

"THAT'S DISGUSTING!" I roared out at Monkey's room, where everyone was sitting.  
"Disgusting?" Po questioned.  
"Yeah, Tigress." Monkey added, "Just a second ago, you said it was _natural._"

"Sex! That's natural!" I argued back with them. "Sex is natural, masturbation is . . . . . . hard!" I coughed, not realizing what just fell out of my mouth.  
"You have _no_, idea!" Mantis repeated himself from earlier. "I mean... I gotta turn my head juuuust right, and-"

"No no no, hold on!" Monkey was laughing, as he cut off Mantis' explanation of Masturbation … Which, I was partially interested in hearing, since... I didn't know how to do it. Right.  
"So what did you just say, Tigress?" Monkey called out to me. "Did you just say, _Masturbation was hard?_"

I sighed out loud, knowing there was no way to hide what I just said.  
"Yes..." I responded dryly.

"Eeewwww!" Monkey and Mantis said at the same time. And I felt my fire burning hot.  
"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, EEEEWWW?!" I growled loudly.  
"Yeah guys? What the shit?" Po muttered.

"Am I made of bees or something!?" I shouted at them, feeling completely insulted.  
"Well no offense, Tigress." Monkey began. "But you're... kind of like our Boss, and personally, I can't really be attracted to my Boss."  
"Yeah." Mantis cut in, "Besides. You're kind of like a sister to us too. Getting turned on by the thought of you _jackin it_, doesn't do it for Master Mantis."

"Well... Thank you for saying so..." I said, again, dryly... Not sure of what to think. I guess it was a good thing that my friends weren't thinking about sexually molesting me, but … I think it's a bad thing that they don't even find me remotely attractive.  
"She's … not my boss." Po interrupted the current train of thought.

"Dude. She's Tigress, cool it." Mantis muttered at Po.  
"Yeah man... She'll punch you." Monkey added in.

"Well so what? My Dad says girls hit you when they like you." Po responded to them.  
I chuckled deeply, "Are you serious? When did he say that? When you were _five_?!"  
"It was when I was seven, thank you very much." Po quipped back at me.

I waved my arms around the room, "_oooOOoooOOooo_." Although . . . no one would have seen that either.

"But seriously, Tigress." Po apparently stood up, because I heard the floor boards squeaking like they were being murdered. "I have to tell you something."  
I felt a bit of vomit swelling up in the back of my throat, which was weird... because it was almost sundown and I hadn't eaten in nearly two days. "W-what is it?" I, very nervously, asked.  
"What do you think of Mei-Ling? Because I think she's cute, but really... She's got nothing on you." Po commented... Sending a weird mix of good and bad down my spine.

"Uh..." I started to talk, but Mantis and Monkey, started talking instead.

"Oh man, Crane's girlfriend?" Mantis spoke first. "God she looks thin, like... '_Oh, no noodles for me thanks, I need to maintain a volume that's lighter than or equal to that of water in order to float!'_"  
"Oh come on, that's mean." I scoffed.  
"Is it?" Mantis replied. "I mean look at her. She's so thin, she could sneak between Tai-Lung's whiskers!"

Monkey started to laugh too, and then he cleared his throat. "Speaking of Tai-Lung."  
I swallowed hard, were they going to discuss him being alive or not?

"You think Tai-Lung would have tried running off with, Mei-Ling?" Monkey asked everyone within ear shot.  
"Oh definitely!" Mantis answered before I could even process the question.  
"Well... I dunno." Po muttered to himself.

I swallowed hard, "Mei-Ling... and... Tai-Lung?" Why was that thought turning me on?  
"Yeah, ridiculous, isn't it?" Po asked me, through the walls.  
"Uh... y-yeah." I replied quickly... never actually thinking about it.

It was no secret that Mei-Ling was prettier than me. As a matter of fact, she was far sexier than me. She was basically a beautiful, strong, empowered woman. I was a strong, butchy, tomboy, that could easily be confused for a man at a distance... I wasn't sexy, I was just strong. Mei-Ling on the otherhand was so sexy...

"I'd drink her bath water!" Mantis was bragging again.  
"Yeah. Girl looked so good, she could launch a thousand ships!" Monkey added.

Po, not wanting to be left out, had to add in his two cents. "Yeah. That Mei-Ling. She's so hot, I'd have sex with her shadow!"

"Damn man." Monkey didn't miss a beat. "That's some horny shit right there."  
"Yeah dude, for real." Mantis added in, and really Po... Did you ass have breakfast? Because it's devouring those shorts."  
"Gaah!" Po gasped out loud, then I was treated to the reactions of Mantis and Monkey shouting in terror as Po dug his shorts out of his mine shaft of butt.

I was still mostly thinking about Mei-Ling, however... and Tai-Lung.

If the Furious Five hadn't followed me... I would have been able to finally confront Tai-Lung on my own, for the first time. I had heard about him, read about him, trained the exact same way he did.

I've slept in his bed, inhaled the remnants of his scent from his clothes, and wore his leopard gauntlet on my right fist... But I'd never seen him up close until the day we met on the bridge... It hurt so much to fight him, instead of have a conversation with him. He was sensible, strong, calculating... He may have even talked me into joining him and attacking the Jade Palace... But I couldn't do it in front of my friends. When we met, and I was leading the Furious Five... I knew we had to fight.

Then, there was Mei-Ling... another feline I never thought I'd be attracted to. But... somehow, I just let me passion get away from me. And when she started kissing me, I fell in love with her in seconds. Even though she called it lust. I sighed silently, wishing she was here with me, so I could hold her body against mine, and stoke her soft head fur.

"_Tigress..." _I heard a voice calling to me, from within my own room. My ears perked up and I turned in the direction of the voice. To see Po's head poking through my front door.

"G-gaah?!" He then gasped and gawked at me like some kind of moronic deer stuck in a bright flash. So, whipped a drinking glass at his face to make him leave. While I was listening to my idiot friends, and arguing with them I had completely forgotten I had gotten, almost completely naked, in order to figure out how to Masturbate. I was sitting in just a _Fondoshi_, the japanese underwear that I knew that Tai-Lung... and other males, wore. It felt comfortable, and was basically all the underwear I would need, because I did a lot of split kicks, and I knew I would want something to keep my genitals from kissing my pants each time I kicked two assholes in the face at the same time.

However, since I was stripped down nearly completely bare, Po was able to see my breasts, my chest markings, my scars, and my soft belly fur... Far more fur that I was willing to show him but... I would forgive it for now... Mei-Ling was supposed to return to me, and I should be looking for her, but I was far too turned on to wait around for her to show up. I needed to figure out how to Masturbate, but before I was even close to figuring it out, Po, Mantis and Monkey busted in and started talking about blowjobs... for nearly an hour.

I remained in my room, and got dressed. Instead of trying to figure out what to do with my breasts, lipa and fingers... I instead was forced to listen to Mantis, and Monkey talk about how drunk they used to get in the past, and Po would hang on every word of their fish tales. And, without realizing it at first... I heard someone calling out for me again.

"_Tigress...!"_ The voice was in my room again, and I turned to my front door... Seeing no one. I turned around to the real direction of the voice; to see Mei-Ling propped up in my window like a stalker.

"Oh... my!" I gasped, and before another word could escape my mouth. Mei-Ling entered my room, pushed me to the floor and closed her mouth down on top of mine.

"Do you think they heard us?" I asked, nervously, while tailing Mei-Ling out of the Valley of Peace.  
"Oh, I'm pretty sure they heard something." Mei-Ling was giggling, and running ahead of me. "How could they not? You're a natural when it comes to orally expressing your feelings."

I blushed a little and admitted. "I've... never had the pleasure to do anything like that-"  
"With a woman?" Mei-Ling cut in.  
"With anyone." I again, admitted. "I'm a virgin."

"A virgin?" Mei-Ling turned back to me and smiled. "You have nothing to worry about, you're in safe hands."  
"Yes, safe." I repeated after her, still trying to come to terms with what was going on in my head and my heart. I would sometimes have thoughts of being in the arms of a strong, tall, powerful male... Like a lord, or a great warrior with large land holdings. But... I was walking through a bamboo forest, hand in hand with a woman; a woman that I was admittedly confused about, but almost certainly madly in love with.

Mei-Ling stopped, placing a hand across my chest to stop my walking forward as well as she began to scan the bamboo forest before us.  
"What's the matter?" I inquired while darting my vision around to see anything out of the ordinary.  
"I... uh," Mei-Ling muttered, "I was attacked here, in this forest earlier."

"Earlier? When?" I looked up, the sky was waning into darkness, but it really wasn't dark enough for random bandit attacks.  
"Only about an hour ago." Mei-Ling whispered, looking around in every direction. "By some guy dressed like we are."

"Like... us?" I glanced down at the robe that Mei-Ling had given me. It was a perfect black cloak that managed to conceal nearly all of my body in it's vastness. I was still wearing my black pants and my red vest under this dark, patternless tarp, but it was almost impossible to make out the color of my clothing when I was wearing this dark attire. There was a hood attached to the neck, and I could feel my head growing partially colder whenever I draped it over my head. When Mei-Ling wore it, I couldn't really see her face, and I couldn't tell what the colors of her clothes were. To be honest, it was really difficult to tell that she was even the person under the cloak until she peels it off.

Even though, I swear, this is the first time I've seen clothes like this. I'm not really uncomfortable wearing it... As if, I've felt this type of fabric, and wore these types of clothes before. Perhaps I should start to shift my wardrobe more towards attire like this... But then again, these clothes look completely sinister, and I wouldn't want to scare the people I've agreed to protect.

"So... Like us." I repeated myself. "In these all dark robes?"  
Mei-Ling nodded her head. "Exactly in these same dark robes... I wasn't paying attention at first, but his robes were actually more decorated than ours."

"More decorated?" I raised a brow, trying to understand what she meant. "So... what? He was fancy?"  
"Sort of." She scratched her head, "I didn't pay full attention, because he sort of surprised the hell out of me, but his robes are solid black like ours, except he has some white etching on the rims of his mask and a few symbols on the shoulders."

"..." I was silent for a moment, thinking on it but... not really knowing if I should know what Mei-Ling was talking about. "I'm not certain, what to think really. Is he dangerous?"  
"I don't know to be honest." Mei-Ling laughed nervously. "When he attacked me. He didn't actually hit me or anything, just pulled me about a bit, then uh..."  
I turned to Mei-Ling, grabbing her shoulders. "Then what?!" I demanded, praying she wasn't violated. "What happened, Mei-Ling!? I'll kill him if he-"

"NO!" She suddenly shouted at me, making me lose my grip on her. Instead, I was now the one being held tightly by my shoulders.

"Tigress-" Mei-Ling said sternly, looking me in the face. I wasn't wearing my mask, but she was wearing hers, and I could barely make out her glowing brown eyes, but I knew they were staring at me. "Promise me... If you see man in black robes, with white runes... You will run from him, and never turn your back on him."  
"Um... Wouldn't I have to turn my back in order to run?" I inquired, but Mei-Ling wasn't tolerating my smart mouth, and she shook me violently for a moment.

"Tigress Please! He's a dangerous man! And incredibly powerful! You'd never feel him walking up to you, even when you were listening for him!"  
I blinked a few times, trying to clear my mind. "W-what? Why would you say that? I'm a Master of Kun-"

"I know, Tigress. I know you're a Master, but he's stronger than you, he's stronger than me... He's..." Mei-Ling sighed, looking down. She could probably see more questions swelling up in my head, and those questions would slowly work their way to my lips but, I wasn't able to get a single word out before Mei-Ling began talking again.

"I fear for your safety." She whispered, pulling me into her to hug me tightly. My heart began to pound against my chest again as her breasts pressed closely against mine.  
"Mei-Ling." I whispered her name. "I can't say I won't engage him, but I promise you I won't do anything to endanger myself. Because I want to be near you whenever possible."

"Oh, Tigress." Mei-Ling laughed, pulling away. "We haven't even made it to the Inn yet."  
I found myself blushing again, brightly. But before I could spew more pillow talk, Mei-Ling pulled me by my arm, in the direction of … I guess the Inn.

"Come on. We shouldn't loiter in the forest for too long. I don't see that guy, but I don't want to either."  
"Okay okay." I followed her, confused as to why she thought some random stranger would be stronger than me, just because he was stronger than her. Mei-Ling was a cute and able girl, but I was more than certain I'd be able to snap her like a chop stick if I had to. And I hope I never have to.

"What in the...?" Mei-Ling muttered, crouching low. I crouched down, following through with her moves but I didn't know why we were crouching.  
"What's going on? Is something wrong?" I asked her, glancing over her shoulder to see a small building in the, not so distant, distance. Out front of the small tavern were three short Clouded Leopards, wearing the same leather cuirasses and leather leggings like Mei-Ling. "Who are they?"

"I'm not certain..." Mei-Ling whispered to me. "But they're not armed, so they're not bandits."  
"Are they Assassins?" I asked, but Mei-Ling shook her head.  
"No, otherwise they would be in the same robes as us."

"Oh... Well... who are they?" I asked, not for a second realizing what Mei-Ling had just implied.  
"Honestly? I … don't know." Mei-Ling replied but before we had time to say any more, another woman exited the building. She was slightly taller than the other three, but she was a Clouded Leopard too.

She turned to the three other women and began talking... I could barely make out what she was saying. But could tell they weren't happy, but they all turned and started to leave, with the tallest leading them.

"Interesting." I muttered. I watched on with Mei-Ling as they began to climb the bamboo and leap along the canopy of the bamboo stalks but... They weren't actually at good at what they were doing, which was obvious by how long it actually took them to climb the foliage, and the way they wobbled, waved and stumbled about reminded me of the first time I ever tried to climb a book case, or walk on a thin fence... when I was four. If not for the fact they were carrying parasols, they would have probably fallen from the trees multiple times.

It took a while, but the female clouded leopards were finally out of sight.

"So … is the coast clear?" I asked, Mei-Ling, and she nodded slowly.  
"I think it's safe to go in. Hopefully Wonton isn't hurt."

"Wonton? Is that the owner?" I asked, standing up and stretching my legs, not realizing how long I was crouched down.  
"Yeah, he's the owner. A really nice panda who bui-"  
"A panda?" I cut, Mei-Ling off. I never knew of another Panda aside from Po, or at least no other pandas that were within a few thousand miles of the valley.

"Yep, a panda. But don't worry, he's nothing like the Dragon Warrior." Mei-Ling spoke with a laugh as we approached the building.  
Mei-Ling's laugh always managed to warm me up, so I started to laugh a little too. "So what? He's not like, Po? Is he Intelligent, Smooth and built or something...?"

. . .

. . .

. . .

He was.

I entered the building after Mei-Ling to see a suave looking panda sitting behind a service counter. He was handsome for a panda, I barely had any idea of what to make of him. I could tell he was tall even while he was sitting, and I saw his arms were actually quite large and taut with muscles... Similar to Tai-Lung's. He had a strong jaw, handsome face and a gentle glow in his eyes. He was... actually pretty attractive.

"Hello, ladies. Welcome to the Rin Inn." He said in a deep, calm voice. And I didn't want to ball my paws into a fist when I heard him talk. He was on the right path to being an acceptable acquaintance.  
"Hello again, Wonton." Mei-Ling said in a sweet, sexy tone. "I've returned."

"That you have." The panda said with a smile. "And is this your guest?" He turned to me, making me blink and stand up straight, flattered for some reason.  
"Why yes she is." Mei-Ling turned to me, pushing me towards him.

"Uh, hello." I said, extending my paw towards him.  
"Hello miss." He responded, taking my hand and shaking it firmly. I … wasn't sure why I thought he was going to bend forward and kiss the back of my hand all fancy like. "My name is Wonton Rin, I'm the owner."

"Oh!" I blinked, and squeezed his palm gently while shaking it. "My name is Tigress, Master Tigress. I'm the leader of the Furious Five." I introduced myself.  
"Oh! Of the Jade Palace, in the Valley of Peace. Wow, you're famous. I'm sorry all I have to offer is my humble establishment."

"Heh, don't worry about it." He released my hand, and turned back to the desk, feeling around behind it while I turned to Mei-Ling. She winked at me, and I raised an eyebrow, not certain if she was winking at me to be cute, or if she was implying that I should be attracted to this panda. I gulped, and turned to look at him again, while he was still searching his own desk. _This... guy wasn't going to be the penis for our sex, was he?!_

"Ah." He spoke, turning back to me, and Mei-Ling. "Here you are, Miss." He dangled a large solid black key over Mei-Ling's open palms and dropped into her grasp.  
"Oh thank you, Wonton." Mei-Ling grinned at him. "So room two, on the second floor. I appreciate it."

"Only the best, for good customers." He said with a smile. The Mountain Cat turned to me with a glow in her eyes, but... I couldn't help but turn to Wonton and ask a question that was sitting in the back of my head.

"Hey uh... are you... Related to... _Po_ by any chance?" I felt stupid for asking.  
"Who?" He responded plainly.  
"Tigress?" Mei-Ling cut in.

"Hold on," I cut off Mei-Ling, and turned to Wonton. "The Dragon Warrior? Po? Po Ping? A big heavy giant panda that lives in the Valley of Peace? He became the Dragon Warrior like, a week ago?" I began to explain, but Wonton's confused expression never converted to anything else.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but I have no idea who you're talking about." He explained.  
"Wow." I mumbled to myself, feeling Mei-Ling place a paw on my shoulder.  
"Um... Wonton here isn't actually... into, Kung-Fu."  
"What?" I turned to him. "You're not?"

"Well actually... no, I'm not." Wonton scratched his head with a laugh. "I'm actually an explorer and a bit of a scholar. I like to study up on things relating to China and the surrounding islands, but I've never practiced any martial arts. Although, I don't believe I ever told you that Miss Mei-Ling, so how did you know?"  
Mei-Ling began to giggle a bit and scratched the back of her head with a bright smile. "Actually I took a guess, I noticed there were a lot of weapons decorating your business, but no real martial arts apparel. So I assumed you were some kind of explorer but not a martial artist."

"Ah, good observation." Wonton nodded, with a soft grin on his face. "Well it's true. I'm not a martial artist practitioner, but I do know a lot about Martial Artists since it's important to history."  
"But you don't know anything about the Dragon Warrior?" I asked him, but he shook his head.  
"I've never heard anything about a Dragon Warrior."

"Ever?" I questioned him again, and he shook his head.  
"Never." He answered.  
"But... You've heard of Master Oogway, right?" I, again, felt stupid asking such an obvious question but some things weren't making sense.

"Of course I have. Anyone that's anyone has heard of Grand Master Oogway. He was the father of Kung-Fu when he created it in the Wu-Dan Mountains in the Pool of Sacred Tears."  
"Then... How do you not know of the Dragon Warrior? That was Master Oogway's goal as a Kung-Fu Master. To pick, train and create a Dragon Warrior from one of his students."

"Hmm..." Wonton put a paw to his chin. I knew Mei-Ling was growing impatient behind me, and I'm sure she would find a way to make me apologize to her later, but here I was talking to a scholar that wasn't my adoptive father, so I could finally have some unfiltered answers.

"Well," Wonton began to speak, "Master Oogway did have a plethora of students before he retired himself and left the young, Master Shifu in charge of the Jade Palace."  
"Young?" Mei-Ling cut in.  
"At the time, he was young. In his teens, he was apart of a team, and in his mature years, he had two partners that he trusted dearly. Then, in his later years, he began adopting children to occupy himself as his allies either died, defected or were banished."

"He... was apart of a team?" I gasped. "Really?! He never told me about that."  
"You didn't know that?" Mei-Ling cut in again.  
"No!" I turned back to her, shaking my head. "How could I have known... I was a child."  
"Well, so was I, but my Master told me about the world. Your Master must have been hiding a lot from you, Tigress. I'm sorry." Mei-Ling stepped forward to hug me, immediately lighting up a blush in my cheeks, and the face of Wonton.

He slowly walked away from us and behind his desk, but continued talking.  
"Well yes," He coughed into his fist. "Master Shifu was apart of a five person team when he was younger, and two, two person teams later on. However all the people he fought alongside were slowly lost from his life. Some are still believed to be alive, others... on the other hand, are buried in the Jade Cemetery."

"Wow..." I muttered, while Mei-Ling ran her fingers along my body while under the cloak. I wasn't sure if Wonton could see what she was doing, but I was starting to get really hot under these clothes.

"If you'd like, I can tell you more about the Jade Palace in the morning." Wonton said, and I blinked.  
"Morning, why?"  
"Well, it's nearly nine o'clock, I should be dimming the light out front and laying down, so I can be up early to tend to my garden." He answered.

"A garden? You're a gardener?" I could barely believe it.  
"Well, some call it a farm, but... I don't think it's all that big. But yes, I do some gardening. But I should be bedding down."

"We should be too." Mei-Ling purred my ear, and ran a finger under my chin—where I suddenly felt a boiling hot lightning bolt run through me, and I immediately felt hot and dangerously horny.  
"Oh my, look what I found." She said with a chuckle.

"Gah." Wonton gasped. "Is she alright?" He was referring to me, and I was deeply embarrassed that someone thought I needed help when I was trying to get under control of my urges for the first time.  
"She'll be fine, Wonton. I just need to get her in bed." Mei-Ling said, holding onto me.  
"Phrasing?" Wonton interjected, and Mei-Ling shot an apparent glare at him.

"You know what I meant." She huffed.  
"Oh, heh, right." He scratched the back of his head and bowed out of the room. "Well then ladies. I wish you a good night, and rest well." He then turned and walked out the front door to do... well, whatever Inn owners do. But all I could think about . . . was Mei-Ling.

"Shall we go to our room?" The mountain cat, helped me to my feet, and I quickly turned and seized her by each side of her face to pull her mouth against mine in a deep, tender, tongue-kiss.

Now she was the one weak in the knees. "L-let's go to our room." She muttered with a disbelieving giggle.  
"Yes," I purred, confidently. "Lets."

- - - ! - - -

[ This erotica scene has been omitted for... '_why not_' and/or '_I probably shouldn't_' purposes. To summarize, Mei-Ling and Tigress have a lot of hot, wild sex, while Wonton suffers in his room; listening to all of it. Because he's too polite to ask them to quiet down, and too much of a single male to leave. ]

[ My apologies. ]


	7. Chapter 7

_- 7 -_

_Su . . . _

If I were to actually use a term that would normally relate to, _'Massive, Lengthy, or Dramatic' _and immediately associate that term with a term that means _'Terrible, Unacceptable, or flat out __**BAD**__'_ I would be forced to use the term to describe my current mission... However since I'm articulate, educated, and in possession of a brain... I would have to describe my mission as _'A failure of epic proportions'__, _but... in grossly mis-using that term, I would then call myself a '_fucking idiot'_

"God, Damn it!" I hissed out loud. Irritated, furious and embarrassed.  
"Whatever is the matter, Lady Su?" My subordinates asked me in unison.

"What do you think?" I growled at all of them at once.  
"She's mad that, we didn't get any money." One of the two idiot twins, muttered to the other one.  
"HEY!" I barked at them, "I'm mad because I wasn't able to seduce that guy in there... He would have accepted our offer if he wasn't a married man!"

"Married?" Song, the most independent of my team spoke up. "How did you know he was married?"  
"Well... uh..." I paused for a minute, then turned to Song. "Don't question me. I just know—okay!" I barked again, trying to cover my tracks... But it wasn't working.

The twins giggled again, "She doesn't know." I overheard them... But then again who couldn't? They hid a secret like a two year old hid an active fireworks display... If not for the fact that they were valuable assets to my team, I would bludgeon them to death on the spot.

"Just be quiet... All of you." I grunted, trying to clear my head. I put a paw to my skull and felt another paw touching my shoulder. Without even looking, I bucked it off and turned to see who was so interested in touching me … And of course, I discover Song. Standing there... like she needed another helping of soup.

"What—is—it?" I hissed, slowly at her.  
"Well, my Lady." She began. "Don't you think the seduction would have worked better if... All four of us had gone inside?" She questioned, but I blinked.

"All four of us... On one panda?" I scoffed. "That would never work."  
"But Lady Su... Isn't four better than one?"  
"Four is larger than one, but not _better, _Song. And you had better stop questioning me, before I... uh..." I paused again, not able to actually think up a punishment this time. Or any time, I was really bad at thinking up punishments.

"I'm sorry my Lady." Song apologized and bowed before me.  
"Just don't let it happen again." I pushed past her and started walking again.

My three subordinates began talking amongst themselves as I lead them back to our base. This reprieve from the constant questioning gave me time to think... Time to consider the offer I was given by that man in the black cloak. I call him _The Shadow Man,_ because I never learned his name, his scent or even his appearance. For all I know, it could have been a ghost, but he couldn't have made me feel anymore violated or uncomfortable with the way he introduced himself...

I remember sitting in my tent, picking through an old rice bowl trying to find a grain that hadn't become as hard and tasteless as a discarded finger nail clipping, and suddenly... the lamp light I used in my tent went out. I turned around to re-light it, thinking it had blown out or ran out of oil, only to see a giant black figure standing in my tent with his paw, extinguishing the flame. I jumped back and screamed at the top of my lungs like I was a teenager, and to my terror... none of my ladies came to my aid. The dark figure slowly marched upon me, towering over my quivering form and huffing like he was a torture demon from the depths of hell.

But instead of raping and killing me, he instead extended a hand to help me up, telling me that he wasn't there to harm me. Again, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't reluctant at first, or still completely frightened, but I took his hand anyway and was lifted back onto my feet. And even still... He was towering over me by nearly two feet. I tried to look up into his face, but I saw nothing... No face, no eyes, no whiskers and not even the trail of his breath, in what felt like, the icey cold tent.

He spoke, and I knew it was a man by how deep his voice was and how strong and toned his paw was in my own, and he told me he wasn't impressed by what he saw. I was insulted at first but... really, how could I disagree with what he was saying. I was standing in my own tent, in the middle of my camp, speaking with someone who just apparently walked in with no trouble. I kept trying to see his face, but it was literally impossible for me to do so. His mask was consuming any light that may have helped me see his eyes, and since he had killed the only light source in my tent... I was practically blind anyway. I mean, I like all cats, could see in the dark but … His face was completely hidden by shadow.

He told me to '_Improve on my methods'_ and to '_Manufacture a real base of operations'_ … Big talk for a guy who's part ghost. And he told me that my base wasn't secure... Well it wasn't, because I wanted to promote the idea that we weren't thieves or bandits to any passer by... But, if we were attacked by real thieves or bandits, we would be completely vulnerable. And my ladies are not warriors. When I countered and asked '_How' _to improve on my base and my methods... He told me to become a _real thief_ and again I wanted to be insulted... But I knew we hadn't made a single yuan in the last two weeks, and if not for the fact that my ladies were practically all crooked no-good scoundrels from a fishing village to the west... Then I probably wouldn't have this group in the first place.

It wasn't until nearly ten or fifteen minutes of talking had gone by, before Song had arrived. But she had no idea that there was an intruder in the base. She gasped out loud, and before she was able to draw her parasol to defend me, or even herself, a black katana erected from the cloak of the _Shadow Man. _He told Song to drop his weapon, and without hesitation she did so... Only to warrant me more of a lashing. I was told that my Ladies were _'Unfit for Combat', 'Untrained' _and '_Won't make it as real thieves' …_ and I had to tolerate all his belittling... Because I was still fearing for my life.

He put his Katana away, and Song fainted and fell on the ground. I turned my vision back up to the faceless black figure in front of me, and through tears, demanded to know why he was here... Making my life horrible. And he told me that he knew what I was... and what I represented... And that I could do better...

How could he know what I was, if _I_ didn't even know what I was?

"Lady Su?" Song's voice broke me from my day-dreaming.  
"Song...?" I sighed. "What is it?"  
"What are you thinking?" She pryed. I wanted to sigh again, but I thought it would be too cliché to do it more than once in a moment.

"I'm thinking about how to become the emperor of China with a want in one hand and shit in the other..." I replied, dryly. Not liking when Song spoke to me without having a good reason.  
"...Uh, how can you become Emperor of anything? You're a woman?" She responded, not even realizing I was being sarcastic.  
"Oh be quiet..." I sighed, praying it had been at least two moments. "I'm … thinking about _The Shadow Man, _again." I admitted to her. Slowly turning my vision back towards the twins, Wang and Wing, who thankfully weren't paying attention.

"The Shadow Man? Did he visit you again La-"  
"No." I quickly cut Song off. "He hasn't been around, I'm just . . . worried that he may come back."  
"Why should we even listen to him?" Song asked, probably preparing to break out big book of endless questions. "He's not our leader, you are."  
"I know I am..." I lowered my head. "But... I'm not a very good leader... Am I?"

Song blinked, looking at me stunned for a minute, as if this was the first time I've ever admitted to it.  
"Wow, Lady Su." She stammered, "I think this is the first time you've ever admitted to it."  
"Oh shut up..." I hissed and walked away from Song, trying not to get too upset at revealing my emotions for a moment.

"Oh please don't take it the wrong way, Lady Su!" Song followed after me, but I was ignoring her. "You're not a bad leader! I just... I just don't know what we're doing, is all."

"What?" I turned to glare at her over my shoulder. "We're the Ladies of the Shade... What more is there to know?"  
"Well... Anything, honestly." Song admitted. "All we've ever done is steal and dance, steal and dance... Then today, all of a suddenly, you tell us that you're going to start extorting businesses in the area... We have no idea how you were going to do that."

I was still glaring at Song, but she wasn't lying. It was the best thing I could think of... and the stupid hotel didn't even have a hint of money... If I didn't know any better, I would have sworn the damn place had just opened for business that afternoon.

Song stepped up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder again. "Lady Su, we're trying to do the best we can under your leadership, but … we're all very confused as to what you actually want us to do."

"Why do you keep saying _US_, Song? There's only four of us here, and two of us can't hear unless you mention sex or food!" I turned and snapped at Song, but to my amazement, she barely flinched... Not to my amazement, my other two subordinates slithered up each side of Song, asking about their two favorite subjects.

"Did we hear, _Food?_" Wing asked with a big grin.  
"Did we hear, _Sex?_" Wan added in, wearing an equally large grin.

"No girls... We didn't use those terms... exactly, as you heard them." I sighed into my hands, wishing I knew why my henchmen were so stupid.

"Um..." Song stammered, trying to peel Wing and Wan off of her shoulders and hips. "Can... You two stop digging into me? I'm not made of food, or sex. You you don't want me."

"Oh that's not true." Wing began to purr, nuzzling Song's cheek. "We want you all the time."  
"Oh that's very true." Wan, again added in... late as usual, "All the time Song. We always have a place for you, _between us._"

"...Impossible!" I threw my paws up in despair. "The Shadow Man is going to kill me! I'll never get this organization running if you three are the best I have to offer!"

"Hey..." One of the idiot twins began speaking to me. "Who's the _Shadow Man?_"  
"Yeah?" Spoke the other. "Is he single?"

"How the hell would I know? I don't know if he's single, I don't know if he's married, to be honest... I don't even know who he is. I just know he's going to kill me if I don't get this group running like a well oiled machine!"

"Oooo~" Wan began to grin like a horny idiot, I must have said something wrong.  
"What—is—it?" I flexed my fists, trying desperately not to fill them with sleeping darts from my parasol.  
"I'd like to see this _Well Oiled Machine_ you have. Is it in the base?" Wan asked, somehow completely convinced I was speaking of a physical object instead of an abstract object... or more like an abstract thought. I was seriously always in the company of my elites and it was no better than being in the company of vegetables.

"Wing, Wan... If you two shut up for the next twenty minutes... I'll show you one of my secret techniques on..."  
"Yes? Yes?" The both of them were nearly humping my leg with excitement as I began lying through my teeth.  
"On..." I stammered, trying to think up something, but my brain was always slow to process.

"On how to, _Stretch?_" Song implied, stepping up to me and the twins.  
"Stretch?" I wrinkled my brow, trying to figure out what Song was talking about. But she gave me a look that practically screamed _'Lie to them!'_, so I did.

"Yes! My Secret Technique on how to _Stretch_. If you girls like to mas—er... _exercise_. Then you'll love what I'll show you."

"Oh yes, we'd love to know!" Wing clapped her gloved paws together.  
"Yes, yes! We'd love to." Wan grinned, turning to Wing. And simultaneously... They each pretended to zip their lips, indicating that they'd shut the hell up for a while. . . What infants.

I turned to Song, who was smiling pleasantly at me... I never understood that girl, or the gentle look in her eyes. She needed to be a killer like me... Otherwise she would never get anywhere in this cruel, violent world.

I was also out of shape... It only took an hour to reach our camp, but to my body it felt like it took days. Without even bothering to ask how I was feeling, the Twins charged past me and into the camp, screaming for the other Ladies because they wanted to get drunk. And Song began to march past me, but she turned to me after, probably... a second or third thought, and extended a hand out to me.

I slapped her hand away, "I'm not feeble Song..." I muttered and walked past her, "I can handle myself.

"But Lady, Su." She sighed in protest. "Protecting our leader is the sworn duty of henchmen. If I don't look out for your safety, than who will?"  
I paused for a moment, "Henchmen?"  
"I hear you call us 'Henchmen' sometimes... I thought it was appropriate, when I talk about us."

I did call them Henchmen... but I didn't intend for that name to ever stick. I waved a paw, to dismiss Song. "Stop calling yourself that, and … go relax. I need to think about what to do for tomorrow. We need to make money before there's a mutiny."

"Oh Lady Su," Song began to reassure me, like she always did. "We won't mutiny. We would follow you to the edge of China and the ends of the earth. We love you."  
"...I know." I muttered. Walking away from Song, trying not to think about her, or my ladies. I just wanted to be alone for a while. "I'll be in my tent."  
"Yes my lady." Song waved me off as I left her presence, and approached the center of my camp.

The center, may be an understatement, because when I got to what the 'center' was supposed to be. I saw my Ladies of the Shade, lying all over the place. Multiple tents had been knocked down, weapon racks were toppled, and the manicure buckets full of foot soak were spilled and completely empty.

"W-what?!" I shouted. "What happened here?! S-Song?" I called out for her, but... shouldn't have. She was with me the entire time.  
"Yes La-Oh my goodness!" She cried out. "What happened here? Did we miss something fun?"

"Apparently." Wing muttered as she crawled around the unconscious ladies on all fours. "They all smell like liquor."  
"Liquor?!" I gasped, "Where did they get Liquor?!"  
"Good question." Wang spoke up, licking the lips of a lady who was passed out, muttering something unrecognizable. "It tastes like . . . uh . . ."

"Liquor?" Wing added as she walked over to Wan.  
"Yeah, that's it! Liquor!" Wan then turned to me. "Lady Sue, I'd like to report that the camp is drunk and unfit for duty."

I put a paw over my face. "... I can see that."

Song stepped forward, grabbing one of the liquor bottles that was resting in the paw of one of the ladies, and sniffed at it.

"I think it's sake." She said, licking the rim.  
"Sake?" I asked, not sure what Sake was.  
"It's Japanese Rice wine." Song said while rubbing her chin and walking up to me. "Did we always have this lying around?"

"Are you kidding? It's a wonder that we have soap, blush and nail polish, Song. It would be a miracle if we had alcohol lying around." I shouted, waving my arms around in amazement... and fatigue.  
"Well, how did this get into the camp? And get all the ladies drunk?"  
I returned my paws to my face. "I don't know Song... You're the smart one... How about you go find out..."

"Um..." Song stammered. "H-how?"  
"I don't know..."  
"You don't know?"  
"NO. I DON'T KNOW!" I shouted at her, making her rear back from me.

"I'm sorry my Lady. I didn't mean to upset you." Song bowed again, apologizing to me as she always does.

I sighed and decided to cut my losses and leave the area. As Wing and Wan began drinking down the Sake wherever they could find it. I could still feel Song's sad eyes on my back even though I wasn't looking at her. She always followed me, and tried to protect me, and... well … hang as close to me as possible for some reason. She treated me like I was a crotchety old woman and I wasn't really sure why, but I wanted to get as far away from it as I could for now.

I stepped into my tent, and entered... What felt like, a completely different climate. I should have probably sensed it … But I was too tired and too slow to pay attention to anything nearby. Now that I was in my tent, I didn't care what happened to me... But even still, I should have sensed it, or at least expected it.

A paw landed on my shoulder. I instinctively shrugged it off, and spun around.

"Damn it, Song! Leav-" I was shouting, about to give Song an ear full... But I found myself face to face with the _Shadow Man _again.

"W-What are you doing here?! What is it?!" I pushed past him and tripped onto my hammock, nearly spilling out of it when I landed.

"This is social call." He whispered at me.  
"A social call. But why?" I didn't sit up in my hammock. I wasn't actually great at getting out of them and because... he was here.  
"I was concerned about your organization."

"And?" I begged him to continue.  
"And nearly all of them are drunk, and unconscious... I believe your organization is in danger of falling apart." He told me, from where he was standing. He hadn't made any motion to move towards me, or even to the door. I was afraid, but... I wasn't at the same time.

"So, you come here to rub it in my face?" I groaned. "Why? I already know my ladies are morons... You don't have to keep riding me on it."

"..." He grew silent.  
"Because, I have a plan. Tomorrow, I'm going to start training them." I tried to sound confident, but I couldn't think of anything good to really say aside from, well, lying.

"You're going to begin training them?" He spoke as if he was laughing. "Instead, how about you build a wall around your _'base'_ so it isn't so easy for anyone to wander up to your camp."

"A wall." I repeated after him. "T-that's a good idea. A wall, to keep out our enemies."  
"Or traveling saleswomen that will clean out your coffers with their wares." He added in.

"A... A sales woman? What do you mean? We're broke?!" I pieced his sentence together slowly. "Oh no! We can't be broke!"

"I'm not certain Su... But you need to focus on your base, and your sisters."

"What?" I tried to pull myself out of my hammock, but it began waving violently under my ass and paws. "What are you taaaaa-!" I shouted, but before I hit the ground, the _Shadow Man_ had extended himself to catch me.

He stepped away from the Hammock, with me sloppily hanging in his arms. He stood me up, and let go, leaving me to stand on my own two feet. I cleared my throat and looked down at my feet.

"T-thank you." I muttered.  
"Think nothing of it, Su."

Again, he said my name. I turned my eyes up to look him in the face, but I was forced to remember I couldn't see it. Regardless, I had a question burning in my mind and I had to get it out.

"How do you know my name?" I asked him, stepping forward. "And why are you so concerned with me, and my ladies?"  
"..." At first he remained silent, just looking down at me.  
"Well?" I asked again. "We're a band of thieves and parasol dancers. We're not a threat to anyone, so why are you so concerned?"  
"Because of what you are..." The Shadow Man said to me.

"Dancers?" I retorted, tired of being confused.  
"No..." He quickly cut me off, and put his paws on each of my shoulders. "You and your sisters are... …"

He looked like he was going to tell me something . . . then all of a suddenly, his voice changed. He switched the subject, and I doubt he would ever say why.

"You and your sisters are in danger of being thrown into Chorh-Gom Prison." He then said.  
"Chorh-Gom Prison?" I was taken aback. "That place was destroyed... Was it-"

"Yes..." He cut me off. "It was brought back, and it's being filled with every criminal that can be found... And the torture that goes on in there, you women wouldn't want to see, and to especially not be apart of."  
"R-really?" I gasped. "Well... How can we avoid it? If you know, then you have to tell me!"  
"Read this." He suddenly pulled a book out of his coat. It looked like an old tattered journal.  
"A book? What is it?" I asked, but he shoved it into my paws.  
"It will keep you and your ladies out of danger, and … give you some insight as to what to expect from people like me." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" I stepped forward, and as he turned around... I threw all judgment to the wind and pushed my face into the black void of his mask, where his face should be... And I found his lips with mine.

I could taste him, finally... The _Shadow Man_ wasn't some dangerous indescribable beast... Nor was he some manner of being that hadn't been discovered before. He was a feline, he was strong and...

I didn't get time to think up anything else, before he pulled himself away from me. I suppose a two second kiss was better than no kiss at all.

"..." He fell silent, and turned to leave again.  
"W-wait!" I called out for a second time. But this time he didn't turn back to look at me... Which was a shame, I was going to try and get into his cloak this time, so... I had to think of something else.

"What's your name?" I did think of something else finally, and it was good.  
"Call me what you want." He responded. "Just warn me, if you're going to try something like that again... because I could have killed you."

"Why wou-" I never noticed the wound he had inflicted on me. Only until I looked down, did I notice the very straight and deep cut that had been put on my chest, right above my breasts and below my throat... Any higher or lower and I would have been severely wounded but... I was merely cut and bleeding right now.

"I am an_ Assassin_, Su. A dangerous and notorious being that stalks China... You _cannot_ do things like that to us, or we may strike before you have the time to save your own life..." He reached into his cloak, and pulled out a deep blue shirt with a brown padded top. "Here... put this on instead."

I looked down at the shirt in his paw, and pulled off my shirt without thinking, revealing my breasts to him. He didn't flinch or jump away, but I could tell that he wasn't looking my direction anymore since his faceless mask had turned. I took the shirt and held it over my naked breasts.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry about kissing you... I just... I just wanted to thank you for your concern." I stammered, hoping that he would stay.  
"... I understand. But I can't tell your ladies what to do... Only you can. You need to bring them up to be stronger, so you won't be put in Chorh-Gom … and put to death."

I nodded swiftly... The word death made my mission very clear now. "I will, M... um..." I then remembered, I didn't know his name. "Please... What can I call you?"

He sighed and turned away from me again, "Call me... Tetsu." He then raised an arm... It was the first time I saw his paw, or his fur at all... But it looked weird. Solid grey... with no real pigmentation or anything at all. Like he was a colorless creature.

"Tetsu-" I called out to him one last time.  
"Yes...?" He responded, probably just as tired of me as everyone else.  
"W-will I see you again?" I hesitantly asked... feeling lonely.  
"If you survive, then yes." He said then threw down a black sphere that was trapped in his paw, and he vanished in a puff of smoke.

As expected... no one from my camp decided to investigate the noise or the smoke. So here, I was left... half naked, holding a new shirt and a some musty old book. Thinking about the man named Tetsu, and why he knew so much about me, and I knew nothing about him...

… I looked down at the book and threw it to my hammock while I put on the new shirt. Slowly... I settled into the hammock so I wouldn't fall, and pulled the book into my arms to begin reading... To try and figure out exactly what Tetsu wanted me to discover from his tome.

I started to think about his taste, and his scent while I was reading. Even though I only had his lips against mine for a moment... This book was loaded with his particular scent, and it made me feel at peace. I would have to study it fully in order to figure out what to do in order to stay alive... so I could see him again.

…

…

…

Then, late as usual, Song came bursting into my tent... To investigate the noise.


	8. Chapter 8

[ **Attention** - This chapter contains a bit more swearing and sexual references than previous chapters. Reader discression is advised. If you're not comfortable with very mature content, please skip the second half of this chapter... It's mostly gossip. However if you're cool with gossip, girl talk and sexual references, then please enjoy. ]

- 8 -

_Tigress . . ._

"_Tigress..." I heard a voice calling my name.  
"Huh?" I turned, to see who it was, and suddenly felt powerful arms grabbing onto me and pulling me close to the owner. Before I knew what was going on, I had been pulled out of the way of a whipping rope. At the speed it was corkscrewing, it would have probably had enough speed and force to tear my eye out. Like a super powerful rat tail from a wet towel._

"_Thanks." I said, turning to my savior, only to see Tai-Lung in front of me. "W-what?! You?"  
"Of course me. I was the only on here with you on that bridge, after all." He said with a coy smile._

_I turned to look out to where the bridge had fallen, to see my friends; Viper, Monkey, Mantis and Crane standing on the other side of the crevasse. _

"_My friends!" I gasped. "Are they okay?" I turned to Tai-Lung, who was still holding onto me._

"_Wait..." I pushed myself out of his arms, and took a defensive stance. "We're enemies. Shouldn't we be fighting?"  
"What?" Tai-Lung looked at me in bewilderment. "What are you talking about? Since when have we been enemies?"_

"_Since... Since..." I began to stammer, trying to think of when we became enemies. As far as I knew... Tai-Lung was just the student that was here before me.  
"You're talking crazy, Tigress. Maybe you should rest." Tai-Lung quickly said while turning away from me, "Hey Crane! Tigress may need some rest. She's acting weird!"_

"_Really?" I could just make out Crane's voice in the distance. He must be flying over, probably with the rest of the Furious Five with him._

"_Yeah. She says I'm her enemy." Tai-Lung's voice went from a shout to casual, as Crane landed with Mantis leaping off his hat and onto my out stretched fist._

"_Whoa, Tigress." Mantis started talking. "What's with the hostility? I mean... You don't really intend to fight Tai-Lung out here do you? In this dangerous location?"  
"What? Of course I do. It was Ma—uh..." I again started stammering, not remembering why I came out here._

"_It was what?" Tai-Lung turned to me, while Crane and Mantis gazed at me like I was suddenly turning into a prune like a raisin in the sun. "Why are you acting like this?"_

"_Because, I..." I sighed and lowered my stance. "I'm sorry, Tai-Lung. I'm just a little confused."_

"_Yeah, clearly." Mantis hopped down. "You come all this way, just to see Tai-Lung, then you talk about wanting to punch him out. What's with you?"  
"Yeah Tigress... And because you were so hasty the bridge snapped. So now we're going to need to repair it. Otherwise Master Shifu will have a fit."_

"_A fit?" Tai-Lung laughed, "Are you sure Master Shifu will even find out? If it's not in scroll or bottle form, Master Shifu won't pay attention to it."_

_Mantis and Crane started laughing at Tai-Lung's joke, implying that Master Shifu was an alcoholic pornoholic... Why were they laughing? Wasn't Tai-Lung my enemy? Didn't I come out here to fight him? Or … … Was something different going on? _

"_Hey, I'm going to go find the rope that snapped." Crane started talking to Tai-Lung again, as casual as when he speaks to anyone he trusts. "I'm going to take Mantis with me, but do you think you can hold it long enough for it to be repaired?"_

"_Who me?" Tai-Lung laughed. "I just broke out of prison, but I should be able to hold onto a few ropes. How many are there anyway?"  
"Uh... six?" Mantis thought, then spoke... But he somehow spoke before he thought.  
"Six? I … may need some help." Tai-Lung muttered, turning to me. "What about it, Tigress? Care to help me hold up the bridge?"_

_I blinked, "M-me? Okay. I'll help." I talked before I thought, now understanding how Mantis did it._

"_Okay then." Crane stretched his wings. "I'll be back with the ropes, and we'll get this repaired."  
"Then we'll set up camp, right?" Tai-Lung asked.  
"Uh... we didn't bring any supplies man." Mantis scratched the back of his head with a laugh. "Tigress ran out here without even telling anyone, so we just followed her out of instinct. I mean... she is the leader after all."_

"_Uh... yeah, heh heh." I scratched the back of my head, more confused than ever.  
"Oh well... That's fine. I'll think of something. But go ahead and get those ropes. We'll be here."_

"_Okay." Crane turned, and looked back at Tai-Lung. "And it's real great to meet you. You're much less scary in person."  
"Yeah man!" Mantis added in, "Maybe the penial system isn't such a bad idea after all?"  
"The what?" Crane coughed.  
"I'll tell you on the way down." Mantis laughed and slapped Crane across the back of the head. "Hee-Yah!"  
"GAH!" Crane gasped and jumped forward, soaring down the stone me and Tai-Lung were left standing on … alone._

_I could just barely make out Viper and Money in the distance, but... aside from that... Here I was, alone... With Tai-Lung._

"_Tigress." Tai-Lung quickly started talking, since … we were alone now. "Is what I'm hearing true? Were you really so adamant about coming to see me?"  
"Well..." I scratched the back of my head again, probably about to wear a hole in it. "I guess so. I mean... to be honest. I barely know what's going on."  
"Yeah, me either." Tai-Lung added with a smile. "I just broke out of prison, and I've been running for the last four days to get to the Valley of Peace."  
"I … wanted to come and see you then." I added, looking up into Tai-Lung's burning eyes._

"_Yeah?" He said smiling, stepping forward to touch my face. "To see me? That's very flattering."  
"Tai-Lung!" I gasped, stepping away from him. "Look... I didn't want to fight you, but... the Furious Five were here and..."  
"And what?" Tai-Lung interrupted me. "We have no reason to fight. I was actually looking forward to meeting you, and the Furious Five. And... Master Shifu."_

"_Are you going to fight Master Shifu?" I took my defensive stance again, but Tai-Lung pulled me out of my stance before I was even able to react. I was suddenly in his arms again, being cuddled against his large powerful chest.  
"Master Shifu has a lot to answer for. But only a fool would jeopardize their freedom. I'm already a criminal for breaking out of jail, I'm not going to stack up anymore crimes."  
I looked up into his eyes. "Y-you're not going back to prison."_

"_I don't want to... It was a horrible place." He looked away from me, but I reached up to turn his head back to stare down into my eyes.  
"We've only just met, but... I don't want to see you go."  
"How can you say that?" Tai-Lung was smiling down at me. "You're not lonely are you?"  
I leaned up to hug his neck, and plant my head gently against his throat. Able to hear his heart beat and the strength in his lungs each time he took a breath. _

"_My friends keep me company but... Somehow I feel you can keep me... sane."  
His arms lowered around me, to hug me close. I felt safe, secure... loved, in his arms.  
"Tigress... This is rather sudden, don't you think?"  
I pulled my head back to smile into his eyes. "I know but... I feel like... We've met before. Like... this isn't our first meeting. Like..."  
"We're linked?" He cut in, and I nodded._

"_Yes... I feel strongly connected to you, even though I don't know why."_

_Then, another voice cut in suddenly. "It could be because you're holding onto him like he's a fire escape." It was Mantis.  
"Are... we interrupting something?" Crane laughed as he stepped up to me and Tai-Lung._

"_Oh no, we're just talking." Tai-Lung said, slowly unfolding his arms from around me. He was acting incredibly casual, but... me... I wanted to bury my head somewhere. I was super embarrassed I'd been caught being . . . emotional._

"_Talking. Yeah, that's what you two were doing." Mantis chuckled. "I'll hold you to that."  
"Yeah, and speaking of holding. You should hold this." Crane extended his foot to Tai-Lung, that was clutching six strong, heavy rope threads.  
"Hold this?" Tai-Lung repeated, and snagged the threads, and when Crane let go, he almost went soaring._

_I, Mantis and Crane all grabbed onto Tai-Lung in the blink of an eye._

"_H-Holy CRAP!" Tai-Lung shouted, as he was slowly being pulled over the edge of the crevasse. "What is this thing attached to?! A land shark?!"  
"It's a bridge!" Crane stammered, trying to regain his composure. "It's attached to … … to... bridge!"  
"Well what the hell man?!" Mantis shouted, digging in as best he could. "This thing is tugging like it's got a whole tug-o-war team full of preschoolers on the other end!"_

"_Pre-schoolers?!" I barked out in protest, trying to keep everyone alive.  
"You ever try to take something from the hands of a child?! It's like... Friggin Wack-a-mole how fast these kids can get in and out of your reach."  
"That's a lovely story Mantis-" Tai-Lung interrupted, "But if this damn rope doesn't let go of the thousand pounder that it suddenly caught hold of... Then we're going to be yanked into the canyon!"_

"_Tai-Lung!" I called out.  
"I'm right here, Tigress. What is it?" He responded, making me feel silly.  
"On three, let's pull."  
"That's a better plan than what I had... Okay. On three."  
"One..." I started.  
"Two." Crane and Mantis jumped in.  
"THREE!" Tai-Lung, Crane, Mantis and I all shouted at once, and we summoned all our strength to yank the bridge section up as hard as possible._

_We saw the bridge suddenly dive out of the fog canyon and erect itself in the air. Monkey and Viper were on the other side doing something... and Crane and Mantis wasted no time punching the heavy bolts that were holding the bride up, into the ground._

"_Wooo!" Mantis clapped his pincers. "Awesome work everybody."  
"Yeah, great work." Crane clapped his beak and turned to Tai-Lung. "Sorry about the ropes."_

"_Hey, no problem." Tai-Lung brushed himself off with a laugh, and extended a paw to help me up off the ground.  
"Thanks." I slightly gasped as Tai-Lung pulled me up. _

_Crane dusted off. "I'm going to head across and let Viper and Monkey know we're all okay. You two are coming, right?"  
Mantis added with a grin, "Yeah. Or are you going to eat up more time _talking?_"_

_I blushed and turned to Tai-Lung who was smiling.  
"We may talk, some more." He said. "You guys better be careful, we're talking right now."  
Mantis began throwing a fake fit."OH GOD WE ARE! We're talking to Tai-Lung! The Menace of the Valley of Peas!"_

"_Ugh," Crane sighed. "Ignore him, Tai-Lung. It's the Valley of Peace and he knows it."  
Tai-Lung nodded, "No problem guys."  
"We'll see you on the other side. But don't take too long. We need to all head back together, hopefully before it gets dark."_

"_Right." Tai-Lung said as he took my hand in his own, and began following Crane and Mantis without hesitation.  
"T-Tai-Lung?" I stammered.  
"Yes?" He turned to look at me with a large smile on his face, completely devoid of anger or fear._

"_...I... Thank you." I smiled back at him, closing my eyes. "Tai-Lung." With my eyes closed, it felt like seconds were turning into minutes._

_. . . _

_. . . _

_. . ._

"_Tai-Lung..." I whispered feeling minutes turning into hours._

_. . ._

[ I've removed this sex scene, my apologies ]

"Oh my god!" I woke up in a pool of sweat, and scanned the room as quickly as possible. This wasn't the kwoon. I shot my vision back and forth, to examine the ceiling, walls and floor. . . This was the hotel that me and Mei-Ling were sharing... I turned to see Mei-Ling next to me. She was absolutely naked, and cuddled up to my arm, with her leather clothing thrown all across the room, with my clothes all over the room as well.

"Holy..." I gasped to myself, realizing that I was completely naked too. Then I examined myself . . . I was also dripping wet.

"Tai-Lung?" I scanned the room fruitlessly. There was no way he would be here... He was probably thousands of miles away. He was just apart of my very erotic dream... A dream that... made me feel like a new woman. I turned to look down at Mei-Ling again, only to see that she was awake now.

"Whoa." I gasped again.  
"Hey there, beautiful." She purred at me. I felt my heart jump. I sort of forgot I was... in love with Mei-Ling, all of a sudden.  
"Heh hey yourself." I responded, probably as cheesy as possible.

She sat up, pulling a cover up around herself, then she grinned and let it just fall, revealing her breasts to me and the empty room.  
"How was last night?" She asked and leaned forward to kiss me. I felt my breath being stolen away as I grew hot between my thighs again, but I decided to keep my head on straight.  
"Last night was..." I thought about, Tai-Lung... and started shivering in passion. "Goddamn amazing."

Mei-Ling grinned. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, love. Because I know I did." It might have broken her heart, to know that I was actually talking about the sudden hot sex I was having with Tai-Lung. But in all fairness, the sudden hot sex I had with Mei-Ling was just as good, but... god, the simulated passion of Tai-Lung's dick ramming my insides was hard to top.

"Yes." I purred back at Mei-Ling, kissing her back this time. "You're a very good teacher. I loved every minute of it."  
"I just can't believe that I was able to do it with, you, Tigress. " I started blushing again, not used to such praise. "You're such a strong and beautiful woman."

"Oh don't try and flatter me." I grinned, "You already had my legs spread and screaming your name. What more could you ask for?"  
Mei-Ling giggled and nuzzled my cheek. "Oh I don't know..." She nuzzled noses with me now, and smiled brightly. Her big brown eyes were so cute... I wonder if it's wrong to want both her _and _Tai-Lung at the same time.

"You know..." I began to admire Mei-Ling now... Clearly seeing what made Crane so smitten with her. "You really are a beautiful young woman. I'm sure any man would tear down whole castles to be with you."  
"Oh, they have tried." She giggled, "But I had my eyes set on only one man... But as things turned out. You were more my passion than, Crane."  
"Crane." I chuckled. "What would he say if he saw what happened last night?"  
Mei-Ling placed a paw to her lips, to look cute while thinking. "Heh, I think he'd cum right in his silk pants."

Mei-Ling and I then started laughing loudly to ourselves, and I turned to nuzzle her back. "You... are such a beautiful woman. I'm actually a bit jealous of you." I admitted.

"M-Me!? ME?!" She sat up, swiftly. "Master Tigress, you're the shining example of a strong, independent woman! I'm the one jealous of you!"  
"Me?" I repeated after her. "You shouldn't be jealous of me in the least. I used to get mistaken for a boy when I was a teenager, and my life wasn't glorious up until a few years ago... You're the one I admire, Mei-Ling."

"Well why, Tigress?" She asked, with her eyes full of concern.  
"Well, look at you. You're fit;" I began to list off her qualities. "And beautiful. Intelligent. Graceful. Well spoken. Funny. And your features are just so perfect. I even like that little white mark in the center of your forehead." I finished my sentence with a warm smile, but... I saw the color, nearly drain out of Mei-Ling's face.

"A... white mark? On my... forehead?!" She gasped, and panicked at the same time.

"W-what? What's wrong!?" I stood up, still completely nude. "What's the matter? It looks cute!"  
"I don't have a white mark on my forehead!" Mei-Ling jumped up and started sifting through her black cloak, like she was searching for something.

"Well it doesn't look bad or anything! I'm sure it will wash out!" I added, trying to calm her down.  
"No it won't" She was still panicking. "This is bad! Do you know what this means?!" She asked as she pulled a mirror from her cloak . . . it must have been there the whole time.

"Um... no." I responded. "What does it mean?"  
She held up the mirror, staring straight into the tiny white triangle that had formed in the center of the large brown crescent in the center of her forehead.

"It means... I'm getting OLD!" She fell on her back, completely blacked out.  
"Oh my..." I silently spoke to myself, and leaned forward to touch her cheek, then her forehead... … rubbing at the spot . . . no . . . it seemed permanent...

Then becoming self conscious, I decided to grab the mirror from Mei-Ling and give myself a quick exam.  
"White hairs... Hopefully it's not contagious."

To my discovery, and brain farting, I discovered that I am covered in white hairs. I was a Tiger after all, but somehow my perception just managed to slip away somehow.

I exited the hotel room, probably stinking of hot feline mating, and moved myself into the main lobby of the small, bamboo... crazy weapon themed hotel. The owner, Wonton, was sitting behind his desk, examining a large book while looking perplexed, but he glanced up when he saw me coming.

"Oh, good morning ma'am." He said with a warm smile gracing his face.  
"Good morning, uh... Mr. Wonton." I bowed towards him, not really able to preform any other greeting when I don't think about it. But he waved a hand, passively asking me to not be so formal.

"No need for the Mister." He chuckled, "You can just call me '_Wonton', _everybody is allowed to call me that."  
I smiled and nodded, "Sorry. I'm just so used to being formal with everyone I meet."  
"Oh I understand." The panda placed a book mark in his book and closed it, to focus his attention on me. "I don't mean to be prying or anything. But I know a lot about you and the Furious Five. You guys are legends after all. So I understand if it's difficult to..."

"Break Character?" I cut in.  
"Yeah." He laughed. "Break Character. You have a tough job."

"Had." I cut in again.  
"Had...?" He repeated after me. "I'm sorry, I'm not following. Did... you quit being the Leader?"

I shook my head and began pacing around his lobby and examining the walls. "Oh no, I'm still the leader of the Furious Five. But... Due to recent events, I'm not certain if the Furious Five will stand up to the reputation of the Dragon Warrior."

"Hmm..." Wonton thought to himself for a moment, while I examined the walls further. I could hear Wonton throwing his large book open again, and the flapping of the many many pages of knowledge contained within. While he was browsing for answers, I took in the presence of all the weapons that decorated the walls of his business. None of them were actually within reach, but I could see them very clearly from the floor. These weapons had a very unique appearance to them, and they all followed a set theme.

Mostly, all the blades and arms were black... Solid black, as if they were made from a permanently burned metal. But the actual sharp edges of the weapons were lighter and reflective, but still perfectly dark just like the body. Hanging were swords, daggers, maces, katana, arrows made from pure metal, katars, and shuriken of varying sizes. However the majority of weapons present were one handed swords. They were all beautiful, but they looked deadly too.

"These are impressive weapons, Wonton." I said, turning to him.

He plucked his nose out of his book and smiled up at me. "Oh. You like them? I do too. They're very high quality arms."  
I nodded, "I can see that. Where ever did you get so many?"  
"To be honest." He began to laugh, "I found them."

"What?" I did a double-take when I turned my gaze back to him, from the blade and steel decorations. "How?"  
"Well, I used to do a lot of exploring and traveling, and I would come across a few of these unique weapons whenever I was exploring old, forgotten dens, ruins and camps that, are surprisingly, everywhere."

"Is that so?" I turned back to the walls, not many of these weapons looked as if you would find them just... Lying around, but I had no reason to doubt him. "Amazing."

"Isn't it? They're priceless too." He added, turning back to his book.  
"Really? Aren't you worried someone would break in and steal them?" I questioned, approaching him and his tome.  
"No, not really. If anyone came after these, they would be stupid bandits, and would attempt to take all of them." He chuckled. "They're also stuck up there with ultra tough sap that only dissolves with a special agent."

"Really? How strong is this sap?" I inquired, crowing curious.  
"Well to put it plainly, it would actually just be easier to just take the wall." Wonton then began to laugh. I joined in, but mostly out of courtesy... I didn't get farm humor.

"Well, Master Tigress-" He then changed the subject. "You seem like you have questions, and I'm a fairly well learned man. You may ask anything that's on your mind."

I blinked a few times, surprised that I was given the opportunity so openly. But I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth . . . Hmm... Maybe I did know some farm humor.

"Well, last night, you mentioned my Master. Master Shifu." I began.  
"Ah yes yes, Master Shifu. He's quite an old man." Wonton commented. "But what would you like to know about your Master?"

A whole plethora of questions suddenly began jumbling around in my head, and without even thinking I blurted out the first time that came to mind.

"Do you know anything about my mother?"

Wonton was scanning his book with his fingers, but suddenly came to a stop as he looked up at me, solemnly.  
"To be honest, Master Tigress." He started up with a slight sigh. "I... actually only know that you _had_ a mother. Any records of your parents are unknown, aside from your mother being noted as a Master of something involving Martial Arts... A traveler. Educated in many different languages and … well uh... A tiger."

I lowered my head a little. "Hmm... Well, it was just a question."  
"I understand. And if I knew, I would tell you. As orphans, your past, Po's past and Tai-Lung's past are... really really unclear."

My ears perked up a little. "Do you know anything about Tai-Lung?"  
Wonton shook his head, "Only what everyone else knows. He was an orphan boy that was left at the steps of the Jade Palace when he was a baby. He was raised by Shifu and taught Leopard Style Kung-Fu, and eventually became a violent man when he was denied the Dragon Scroll."

"The Dragon Scroll." I nodded. "I was denied that scroll too. I had been training for that my entire life, just like—" He cut me off this time.  
"Like Tai-Lung. But..."  
"But?" I followed his question, trying to read his book upside down from where I was standing.

"Well... There was no mention of the Dragon Scroll or Dragon Warrior or anything relating to it... before the Furious Five disbanded."

I looked up to Wonton, completely confused. As long as I've been in Master Shifu's presence. He's never told me anything about his life before adopting me. So as far as I knew, my friends and I were the only Furious Five.

"Please, explain more." I sighed, "Because... I know nothing about what you're talking about."  
Wonton looked genuinely surprised, as if he didn't believe me when I said I didn't know anything last night. But he nodded anyway.

"Well... When Shifu was under Oogway. He was apart of the Furious Five beside his allies at the time. An Elephant, Mo-Bo-Gao. A Rooster, Jao-Lo. An Owl, FengHaung. And a Clouded Leopardess, Ming-Lao. They used to be the Furious Five and … a veritable force to be reckoned with."

"So... What became of them?" I asked, looking up to Wonton from his book, then back down at the book, examining the upside down illustrations of the old Furious Five.

"Well, most of them are dead, actually." Wonton pointed to the Rooster. "Jao-Lo was killed after the group disbanded. And Mo-Bo-Gao died years later."  
I frowned, it was always sad to hear of Kung-Fu Masters, or … Masters in general, dying. "What could possibly kill two Masters?"

"Oh well, Mo-Bo-Gao actually lucked out. Poor guy actually passed in his sleep." Wonton said, leaning away from his book. "People say that death had to take him in his sleep."  
"Why's that?" I asked, as if I didn't already know the answer.  
"Because," Wonton looked down at me. "They say that if Death came for him when he was awake, there would have been a fight."

"Wow." A slight smile crept across my face. Humor was good in the presence of death, it made people think less of their own mortality. But I had more questions concerning the dead. So our jubilation didn't last very long.

"So... What happened to Jao-Lo? I'm assuming it wasn't a peaceful death?"  
Wonton frowned and shook his head. "No. Jao-Lo wasn't so lucky. He was actually taken down by..." Wonton paused, looking at me and then up at the ceiling. "A bandit lord."

"A Bandit Lord?" I repeated. "That can't be true."  
Wonton shook his head. "Jao-Lo was a powerful White Crane Kung-Fu Master, but he wasn't very tall or very strong. He had form, and skill but... Really the only fighters in the Furious Five that could hold their own in a massive battle were Shifu and FengHaung."

"What happened to..." I paused for a moment, remembering hearing something about FengHaung once. "Wait... She's the Owl woman that Master Shifu used to be friends with. I remember now..."  
"You do?"  
"Yes." I looked down at the floor while I thought out loud. "Master Shifu _did_ talk about his old allies when he thought no one was around or watching. He sometimes spoke of Jao-Lo, but he spoke of FengHaung a lot more..." I turned my eyes back up to Wonton. "Were … Master Shifu and FengHaung a...uh?"

"Couple?" He added, and shook his head. "Not as far as I know. I've uncovered a lot of things, and unless they were doing it behind everyone's back, there's been no record of Master Shifu and Master FengHaung being involved. Aside from being apart of the Furious Five together."

"Is FengHaung still in Mongolia?" I continued to question.  
"She's in Mongolia?" Wonton retorted with a laugh. "You know... Now that you mention it, it would make sense for her to be in Mongolia... All I knew was that she fled north, and never returned."

"No one has heard of her since... Could she still be alive?"  
Wonton shrugged, "Only bodies confirm death, Master Tigress. If no one has ever found FengHaung's remains. Then she is alive, and plotting."  
"Plotting?" I stepped back. "Against Master Shifu?"

"Well..." Wonton scratched the back of his head. "I wasn't actually being serious about that part. I'm not sure if she's plotting... Although—" He turned back to his tome, rolling his fat black finger around a few of the pages, searching for a specific spot.

"Although, according to what I've gathered about FengHaung. She was the strongest of the Furious Five, and attempted to overthrow Oogway for control of the Jade Palace. Which obviously didn't work."  
"And now that Master Oogway is gone, she may come back."  
"Yes." Wonton nodded, "She may. But I can't be certain." Wonton closed his book and shot his gaze back up at me. "Guessing is basically all I can do for the future. But I know plenty about the past."

I raised an eyebrow. "Can, you tell me anything more about Tai-Lung?"  
"Hmm..." Wonton began to speak, but he was interrupted by another voice.

"You mean aside from him being a hunk?" Both Wonton and I turned to see Mei-Ling, fully dressed in her black cloak and robe on the balcony of the second floor. She smiled down at me and Wonton and waved. "Tai-Lung was a really attractive man."

"I never met the guy, but I heard some things like that, yeah." Wonton then added. I turned my sights up to Mei-Ling who was still smiling down at me, I suppose she was over the fear that she was growing old.

My gaze reset to Wonton, "Tai-Lung. Did he have parents?"  
The panda chuckled, "Are you asking if he suddenly appeared in this world without any possible chance of birth? Or do you mean, were his parents documented?"  
"Uh.. Yes." I responded to his questioning.  
"...Okay." He raised an eyebrow. "Then... No."  
"No, what?" I asked, trying to clear things up... Realizing that I'd just confused both him, and me.

"No, he didn't appear due to random birthing." Wonton stifled a laugh, "And no, his parents weren't mentioned, in any records."

"Oh..." I sighed for a moment. "So he's an enigma... Are you aware that he's dead?"

"Dead?" Wonton chuckled, "I highly doubt that Tai-Lung would die by normal means."  
"How are you so sure?" Mei-Ling asked from the second floor.

"Well, his history of _near death_ battles aside. Tai-Lung is thought to be the product of two very infamous Assassins." Wonton said, in a commanding tone. Like he knew he was right, even though he basically just used the term '_in theory_'.  
"So... How are you so sure?" I found myself repeating after Mei-Ling.

Wonton leaned away from his book while he began talking, as if he didn't need to reference anything now that he was on this subject. "Well, I know because I study Chinese and Kung-Fu history a lot. And Tai-Lung is a bit of a mysterious character. Even his origin story is questionable."

"Questionable?" I repeated again, feeling like a parrot. "How can you say that? You mean to say that Tai-Lung _wasn't_ left on the stairs of the Jade Palace?"  
Wonton raised a finger. "I'm not implying that he wasn't _abandoned_ at the Jade Palace. What I'm implying is actually that he wasn't _suddenly abandoned_ on the stairs of the Jade Palace."

"Meaning..." I raised an eyebrow, "That his parents intentionally left him there?"  
Mei-Ling was nodding from the second floor. "Well, that makes sense. But I think he means that his parents didn't _just_ leave Tai-Lung, but they did it with the intent of having him train under Shifu."

"Under Shifu...?" I looked up at Mei-Ling. "Why wouldn't Oogway be the better choice?"  
Mei-Ling's head glanced away from me, looking off into space. "You know, I'm not certain... Maybe Shifu answered the door before Oogway did."

Wonton cut in, "Those both are interesting theories ladies. But to expand on it, I actually believe that, Tai-Lung's estranged father, actually left Tai-Lung at the Jade Palace, with Master Shifu intentionally because he may have been in hiding."

"In hiding?" I stepped back. "How come you talk like you know so much about Tai-Lung? What are you hiding?"  
"Hiding?" Wonton smiled. "Nothing. I just study a lot."

"He's a nerd, Tigress. Leave him alone." Mei-Ling giggled, and Wonton rolled his eyes.  
"I'm not a nerd. I'm a scholar. Besides... I know that Tai-Lung is affiliated with the Assassins because Tai-Lung's father was an Assassin."

"An Assassin. Really?" I blinked. "How did you come to that conclusion?"  
"Deep study." Wonton muttered lightly, and he began flipping through his large tome again.

"An Assassin...?" Mei-Ling scoffed. "How can that be possible? Assassin's are elite and secretive. They wouldn't just _leave kids_ at the door step of a giant noticeable place like the Jade Palace."  
"That's true." Wonton added, while still scanning his book.

I looked down at the book, trying to read something that was scratched across the pages but I wasn't the greatest at reading upside down. But it did bring up another question.

"Um... Do you mind if I ask what book you're reading?" I asked, while leaning towards the desk to see more of the tome up close.  
"Oh it's more of a field manual than it is a book." Wonton replied, leaning away and spinning the book in my direction. Now I could read it just fine.

The page that was immediately open was a large list of names that spanned from all across China, and a few locations around the province, along with some areas outside of the country. I scanned the open pages quickly and noticed that a lot of names were similar and of the same family.

"Are all these people related?"  
"Yes." Wonton replied and spun the book back towards him, and flipped through a few more pages. "This is a list of assassins that I've complied over my years of study."

"Wow." Mei-Ling stepped forward. At some point she had descended the stairs and was now walking up to the two of us. I should probably be worried that I never noticed her moving, or sensed her approaching, but I decided to let that thought float to the back of my mind while I listened to Wonton.

"Well, to get back on topic of Tai-Lung. I learned that he was the oldest boy of a small litter of children, that was birthed from the Leader of the Assassins over 40 years ago. Also … Those Assassins 40 years ago took in a Japanese male snow leopard. So he had to be the father, and the man who brought Tai-Lung to the Jade Palace."

"The man to?" Mei-Ling cut in. "Why wouldn't a woman have done it?"  
"Because," Wonton quickly responded. "The women are very protective of their children, and don't allow children outside their base of operations."  
I laughed a little, "Again, Wonton; How do you know all this?"

"Deep Study." Wonton responded again with a chuckle. It was going to become his catch phrase if he kept it up.

"So..." Mei-Ling tapped her lips with a finger. "So the man ran away with a baby, to the Valley of Peace, because he was hiding? Why would he be hiding?"

"You mean aside from being the only male inside a hive of women?" The panda turned to Mei-Ling with a sly grin on his face.  
"Oh!" Mei-Ling laughed. "Well I guess I _kind of_ see why he'd run. His wife was probably passing him around like soy sauce."

"Actually." Wonton again, cut in. "He didn't have many children, and according to everything that's ever been uncovered. He was only with the one woman, then eventually ran. Even though the woman he was with, and her sister, were exact twins."  
I shrugged, "So he didn't have sex with twins. It sounds like he way loyal to his mate."

Mei-Ling stepped around me and hugged me tightly. "Oh Tigress." She whispered at me, making me have a sudden hot flash. But I rolled my eyes and gently broke free of her grip.

"Oh don't tell me you think that cheating is sexy." I said, looking back at Mei-Ling.  
"Cheating?" She stood back, putting up her hands in defense. "It's not cheating if all three people are aware and consent. I'm sure the sister was probably aching for that man, when she would peek in on her sister getting dicked down hard by her boyfriend."

"...?!" I was silent, and kind of... surprised. Her logic barely made sense, but it was enough sense for me to at least _question_ and _consider_ it. I turned to Wonton, who stuck his hands up in defense too.

"Hey." He said, "I only know big facts. I don't know the little details. I don't know why he wasn't after the sister, especially if both of them look the same. It's damn near a no brainer."  
"And if they both agree to it!" Mei-Ling quickly added.  
"Right right." Wonton nodded, "And if they both agree to it. Then I don't know what would have kept him from indulging himself."

I rolled my eyes. "What if they _didn't_ include three way sex? What if his mate only wanted to keep him to herself, and didn't want to share with anyone?"  
"Selfish much?" Mei-Ling quipped. "I'm sure they shared everything equally. That would just be cold selfish to _not _share this perfectly good male."  
"No it wouldn't." I retorted at Mei-Ling. "It shows a dedicated relationship!"  
Mei-Ling shook her head. "No it doesn't. It shows that she wasn't loving enough to include her dear, darling sister."

"Who wants to kiss their sister?!" I exclaimed in shock.  
"I... don't know." Mei-Ling paused. "I don't have a sister, just... Cousins..."

"Well, ladies-" Wonton sighed. "To be honest. I think Tigress is the correct one here. Considering that the group of Assassins that had held together as one mighty force for over hundreds of years... They're now suddenly three separate groups, and only two groups are active, and just one of them is actually dangerous."

"Wow... Really?" Mei-Ling rubbed her chin. "He must have had a golden dick."  
"Mei-Ling. It's not all about his..." I paused, trying to be polite in front of Wonton.

"Dick?" Mei-Ling finished my sentence for me.  
"Cock?" Wonton added from behind the desk.  
"Rod?" Mei-Ling re-added.  
"Wood?" Wonton chuckled as he followed Mei-Ling's example... These two suddenly turned into Mantis and Monkey right before my eyes.

"So, all that hilarity aside." I sighed. "How or rather, why, would he run off with a child? And leave him in such an obvious place if he needed to be hiding?"

"I can only assume because the Assassins were going to kill him." Wonton answered me quickly, again … not referencing his book.  
"Why would they kill him?" I asked, sort of unclear on Assassins.

"Assassins aren't allowed to keep men. If they do, they kill them once they give birth to that males children. Men aren't allowed in the Assassin organization." Wonton began to explain, but I had to cut him off.  
"What?! They're not!?" I sounded as if I was... complaining. "Well then how long was he around? And if he wasn't allowed to be there, how come he was mated to the leader?"  
"I don't know, and I don't know." Wonton chuckled. "Like I said I don't know the details, I just know that he was there, and stayed long enough to run off with a child. And I assume since he was being hunted, he hid his kid and plain sight."

"Well..." Mei-Ling turned to Wonton. "Wouldn't a Snow Leopard in a gentle place like the Valley of Peace, stick out like a sore thumb?"  
"You would think that but... I guess not." He laughed, and stretched.

Wonton's sudden stretching was the first time I actually got to _admire_ his big muscles. He was a panda, there was no doubt there, so he had some pudge to him... But wow, did he also have a lot of muscle and physique. I would have probably wasted some time admiring his form if not for Mei-Ling's paws landing on each of my shoulders as she leaned against me.

"So … Tigress. You think it's time to head back to the Jade Palace? It's almost time for the morning bell."

. . .

I felt a cold chill shoot down my spine.

"The... Morning BELL?!" Panic suddenly took hold of me. "Holy—I have to get back to the Valley of Peace! Before it's too late!"

"The Valley is to the East, darling." Mei-Ling called after me as I made a dash for the front door.

"Thank you!" I shouted and ran out without waiting to hear what she had to say in response.

I left Mei-Ling and Wonton behind to do, or say, whatever they had on their minds in privacy. As much as I would have liked to have my unanswered questions answered, or to have stayed in the presence of Mei-Ling for a while longer. I had a duty as the leader of the Furious Five, and I needed to be back in the Valley of Peace before the first bell of the morning . . . No matter how tired I am.

I had no idea how much sex can fatigue a body, be it real or in a dream...

My heart was pounding and my head was throbbing. My legs were aching, my throat was dry, my tail was limp, my fur was matted, my eyes were burning and my pussy was still partially wet, and here it was... not even 8 in the morning. Today was going to be a hell of a day if we had to start training again.

I was standing in the hallway with the rest of my friends, the Furious Five, and of course, the Dragon Warrior. I was a little surprised to see him standing on the hallway of the dormitories with us, so early in the morning but... I was also surprised that it was seven-ten and Master Shifu was no where to be seen.

It had been a full ten minutes after the first bell, and no one had moved or said a word yet, even though all of us looked as if we each had our own version of a rough night. Po decided to break the silence however with a sudden revelation.

"Oh, right!" He exclaimed. "I completely forgot. Sorry guys." The Dragon Warrior said as he broke formation and started to walk back into his room.

"Master Shifu says '_No Training Today. Repair the Valley Instead'_" The Dragon Warrior then entered his room and shut his door.

"What?" I grunted, but no one seemed to share my enthusiasm for finding out why.

"Odd, but... Okay." Mantis stretched his arms and jumped on Monkey's shoulder.

"Hold on, hold on." I cut in, and slid open Po's room door. Thankful that he was still dressed. "Hey-"  
"Hey." He replied quickly, cutting me off.  
"How come Master Shifu told _you_ to tell us? Why didn't he come and tell us himself?" I growled a little, not really sure whether I could trust what the Dragon Warrior was saying or not.

"Because he's still kind of... still recovering." Po replied in his usual, sing-song, _I'm not telling the whole truth_, kind of tone. But... honestly, I needed a break. And if Shifu said we get a break, then I'm taking a break.

"Well if he didn't. I'm blaming all this on you." I stepped away and shut the Dragon Warrior's door, turning back to see my friends looking at me in slight shock.

"...what?" I asked, looking at all four of them.

Crane grinned. "We get a break, and you're the first one to question it."  
"Yeah Tigress," Monkey stretched. "Don't you think a hangover needs some good rest and relaxation?"  
"Yeah." Mantis added in, "Either that, or some of the hair of the dog that bit ya."

"Guys..." Viper hissed at the nut squad, then she turned back to me. "And Tigress. I know how you enjoy training in the mornings but... a break is what we need after that incident with Tai-Lung. Everyone deserves some time off, I think."  
"Yep." Crane added, with a clap of his beak.

"Well, if you guys say so." I shrugged and smiled. "I guess I could uh... …"

"Bathe?" Monkey suddenly spoke. I was taken back for a moment but... after close inspection of my own fur. He was right. I needed a bath.

"Yeah. That's a good idea." I was going to stretch, but I didn't want to throw any of my unwashed scent into the air, in case I had a field of funk orbiting around me like the flies that surround Po's dirty dishes.  
"Well, I'm going to hit the head." Monkey said, grabbing a Morning News Scroll from the hallway. "Hard."

"Whoa-" Mantis jumped down from Monkey's shoulder. "Count me out dude! I'm going to go and check what's for breakfast."

"Well I think um..." Crane was about to say something, turning to look into Viper's eyes, but she cut him off by placing the tip of her tail over his beak tip.  
"I think you should do whatever you want. I'm going to go soak with Tigress."  
"Soak?" I raised an eyebrow, but Viper turned back to look at me with a sultry look in her eye... That look always meant gossip. _Always._

"Heh heh okay." I chuckled. "A soak. Well Crane, you go have fun with your morning." I extended a paw towards Viper, who gladly slithered up my arm and around my neck.  
"Uh... okay. I guess I'll see you later, right?" Crane asked.

"I guess so?" I responded, not even coming to the realization he was talking to Viper and not me.  
"He was talking to me, and yes." Viper hissed happily. "We'll see you in the Valley of Peace later. We'll have to help clean up the Village a bit."

"Well alright." Crane patted off his chest as me and Viper turned to leave. I wasn't certain exactly what had been going on in order to make Crane so mouthy during the morning, but I was more than certain that Viper was going to tell me the minute we got to the bath house.

"And...?" Viper was very impatiently slapping her tail on the hard wood floor, waiting for my response.  
"And... we went to the kwoon together... Apparently." I chuckled, slowly settling into the water and placing a large steaming towel over my forehead to relax.

Viper was sitting on the edge of the hot tub, with her body draped down the side of the, above ground, bowl. The tub was wooden, but it was a durable, sturdy, powerful wood that could resist flame incredibly well. Since it was sitting on top of a fire in order to heat the water. There, was also a metal plate that would spread the heat, too and I'm sure that helped.

"So... The Kwoon?" Viper slithered closer to me, bringing her face very close to my own. "You went in together? And what happened?"  
"I don't know exactly what happened when we _arrived._" I grinned a little, starting to feel hot just thinking about what happened between me and Tai-Lung in my dirty adult mind.

"YES?!" Viper was boiling over with anticipation and angst. "What happened, Tigress? What happened? What did he do?!" She leaned in even further, now pulling the hot towel off of my eyes with the tip of her tail, so she could stare me straight into my eyes with her deep green smoke sex eyes.

"Viper? Do I detect a hint of curiosity?" I asked with a cheeky grin on my face.  
Viper's eyes got even wider some how. "You're going to detect a whole bucket of ice water on your head, girl, if you don't make with the goods!"

I laughed, "Alright alright calm down." I lowered the towel back onto my eyes and whispered at Viper. "_...he fucked me._"

Viper leaned away, gasping far louder than necessary. "R-really?"

My eyes were rolling to the back of my head just thinking about it. "And hard." I purred.

"Oh my god!" Viper giggled, dipping the lower half of her body into the hot tub with me. "Was he... huge?"

"Huge?" I grinned, showing off my fangs like a vampire. "Like an Ox."

"Ox's are huge?" Viper questioned, probably tapping her lips with the tip of her tail.  
"I honestly couldn't say. I've never seen one, pantsless... from the front … … erect... inches from my face."

"So..." Viper gasped for a moment. "You've seen a hard Ox cock before? Erect?!"  
"Hard and Erect mean the same thing right?" I chuckled, "And yes. Just not... you know... Inches from my face..."

"Inches from your f-" Viper snickered. "So it was feet from your face?"  
"Yards, I would say. It was... uh... a confusing day for me." I admitted, thinking back to when I was chasing Crocodile Bandits through a neighboring town and crashed into a male bath house. "There were a lot of ugly cocks in that bath house."

"A bath house?!" Viper again gasped, then laughed, then snickered in rapid succession. "Was that the mission where you had to recover the stolen Gu-Ji Mask from that African Witch Doctor? But... you weren't gone for longer than a few hours!"

"A seconds is all it takes for your eyes to see a bumpy, sharp, purple and blue veiny cock, Viper." I sternly admitted, nearly coughing at the thought.  
"Y... Wh... Purple and Blue?!" Viper coughed for me, again probably placing her tail to her lips to hold in a little puke. She was a great visual thinker. "How come you remember th-"  
"It's hard to _un-see_ whatever you see, especially when it's naked, male, horror." I chuckled, then exhaled deeply. "But those males were _nothing_ compared to … Tai . . . Lung." I spoke with a sexual pause in between his name.

"Oh my." Viper grinned. "So he fucked you... How hard?"  
"It was a dream, Viper." I started to purr. "But oh my god, I bet I would have felt him up to my throat."

"Your throat?" The green viper giggled. "You know, it doesn't hurt that bad, even when something gets _rammed_ to the back of your throat."  
"...!" I paused, and sat up slowly in the hot tub, and slowly peeled the cooling towel away from my forehead and eyes. "So... you mean to tell me, you've..."  
"I've done _a-lot _of things, girl." Viper winked.

"Oh... I... uh." I felt like an idiot all of a sudden. Here I was bragging about the fake sex, I had with a guy that I had only met once, over a pit of unseen despair and infinite distance. Basically the only guy I had ever met that even partially excited me to the point of fantasy. And Viper, she was a well educated woman, who was probably the literal definition of sexy, and 'looks that could kill'. And to top it all off, her and Crane had a secret relationship and... where I've sucked off Tai-Lung in my dreams. She probably actually _has_ sucked off Crane... for real. To make matters even worse, I wasn't even certain that Tai-Lung was alive. And if he was alive, what chance did I have of seeing him again?

"So..." Viper poked me with her tail, still somehow intrigued in my fake sex. "What did he do to you?"  
I blushed, embarrassed that I was so turned on by something happening to my brain and not my body. "Well... When I realized what was going on. He had me on my back, plowing me like a..."

"Whore?" Viper cut in suddenly.  
"W-what!? NO!"  
She started to laugh, now that I had a huge blindly angry and even more embarrassed look on my face. I would never call myself a whore but... when Tai-Lung was thrusting into me, all I wanted to do was moan like an unmarried woman, who was cheating on her vows to Kung-Fu.

"I didn't mean _you_ were a whore, Tigress. I meant that the sex were so good that it made you _feel_ like a whore." Viper's eyes started to roll to the back of her head now. As if she were reliving her own explosively sexy fantasy.  
"Well, I don't know what whores feel like." I started to snicker at her mixed expression of of lust and ecstasy. "But, if it felt like wanting to spread your legs even further apart for a man of … pure fantasy then-"  
"Pure fantasy, turned reality." Viper hissed with a giggle. "So you're in love with, Tai-Lung, huh?"

"What!?" I splashed Viper, "I am not!"  
"Hey," Viper waved her head, glaring at me a little now that I got her flowers wet... Did... she ever take those flowers off?  
"Heh, sorry Viper." I apologized, patting her head. "But I am _not_ in love with Tai-Lung. How could I be?"

"Because he beat you in a fight?" Viper asked, slowly slapping her flowers off her head.  
"He... did. But that's not the reason why." I began to argue.  
"Because he's evil, and defeating him would cement your place as the superior of Shifu's two children?"  
"Well... yes, but n-" I tried to argue.  
"Because, even though we only saw him for a second... He was _fucking __**drop dead SEXY**_?"  
"...I uh..." I coughed, completely failing to argue back.

"Or … Is it something else?" Viper finally settled herself. Lowering into the water so just the tip of her tail, and her head were visible under the steamy vapors and bubbling water.  
"It's... something else." I turned my head to look away from Viper, trying to figure it out myself.

"Yeah?" She responded, hardly even looking at me now that she was floating around like an old sock in the laundry. "You mean like... A spiritual bond, or something?"

I paused, and turned back to Viper, completely stunned that she guessed it. "Well... Well yeah? How did you know?"  
Viper giggled, "Girls gotta know things like that. It's called _Women's Intuition_."

I snickered, "You're going to tell me _Women's Intuition _is real?"  
"It's as real as Love at First Sight." Viper sighed.  
"That's fake." I argued.  
"It's as real as, ghosts and goblins!"  
"It's _Ghouls _and _Goblins!_ And they're fake too!" I argued again.

"It's as real as..." Viper was about to mention another thing, but she instead... Settled back into the water and began grinning at me... Menacingly.

"W-what?" I asked, leaning back.

"Tai-Lung." She whispered at me.  
"W-what about him?" I raised an eye brow.  
"Tai-Lung." Viper whispered at me again... and I started to grow a little hot.  
"Why are you mentioning his name?!" I tried to get Viper to stop by simple reason. But the truth of the matter was, whenever it came to sex... Viper was years ahead of me.

"Tai-Lung." She whispered for a third time, and the fur stood up on the back of my neck, and I suddenly felt something touching my, incredibly hard and erect nipples.

"V-VIPER!" I gasped, leaning away from her and covering my exposed breasts with my wet paws. "W-why would you do that?"  
"Oh that?" I was panting while Viper was laughing at me. "That was a simple word association test."  
"W-was it?!" I stammered, bothered and hot... Or rather, hot and bothered. My words were jumbled.  
"Actually, that was just a test to see how long I could say _Tai-Lung _before you got horny and overly conscious about your body telling me what your mouth won't."

I blinked, "Well... Stop doing tests!"  
Viper began to laugh. "I still have to do the word association test!"  
I groaned out loud, "Fine!"

"Okay okay." Viper cleared her throat then looked me in the eyes. "Say the first word that comes to your mind when I say it."

I nodded slowly, listening to Viper's explanations. I really wasn't in the mood for a test or a game, but... Viper was my friend. The only female friend I had for years, until Mei-Ling came along, so I had plenty to owe to Viper for keeping me sane. So if she wanted to prod my brain with a silly test... I shouldn't deny her.

"Ready?" She grinned.  
"Yeah." I nodded, "Go ahead."

"Okay." Viper thought for a moment, then began her test.

"Heavy." She said.  
"Boulders." I responded, thinking that Boulders were heavy, as my first thought.  
"Crime." Viper said.  
"Punishment." I replied, thinking that Crime and Punishment go together as well as Punishment and Crime, in the hall.

"Kissing." Viper spoke with a grin.  
"Girls." I blurted out, without thinking... Because I wasn't supposed to.

"Really?" Viper suddenly began snickering. "Have you ever kissed a girl?"  
"Uh... n-no!" I again blurted out, but without being given time. Viper dove forward, kissing me on the forehead like a child.

"There." She grinned. "Now you've been kissed by a girl."  
"I..." I touched my forehead with a paw, then splashed Viper. "Cut that out!"

She giggled, now not worried about her flowers since they were already wet and gone, then she splashed me back.

"Will you just admit that you're in love with Tai-Lung?"  
"I won't! Because I'm not!" I kept splashing Viper while she was splashing me back.

"You SO are!" Viper insisted while tossing more hot water at my face. So I kept returning fire by splashing her right back.  
"I am NOT!"  
"Are too!"  
"AM NOT!" I shouted and stood up completely naked in the tub, which was now only partly filled with water instead of _mostly_. Whatever the mathematical equivalent of _mostly_ was... "I actually think _you_ are attracted to him!"

Viper giggled a little, wiping water off of her face. "A little." She admitted. "I'm sure you can relate."  
I groaned out loud. "Okay, so he's attractive. Fine."  
"How attractive?" Viper pressed on, slithering up to me.  
"Very? I don't know. He's... ..." I wanted to keep arguing but... Really, I was arguing with Viper, of all people, who apparently studied in how to find truth through lies.

"Viper..." I groaned. "Why are you doing this to me?"  
"What? Me?" She pretended to be offended. "I'm merely reaching out to my dear friend to inquire about how she was getting royally bred with the most eligible bachelor, turned criminal, in the whole Valley of Peace. Your fantasy was pure passion, and it's what your heart really wants."

I blinked a little, resettling into the reduced water, hot tub. "I don't know, to be honest."  
"You don't know?" Viper smiled, "You don't _have_ to know. Your heart will decide for you."

"But..." I sighed. "What if I'm... in love, with a dead man?"

Viper reached out to touch my shoulder with the tip of her tail. I looked up to her, smiling back into her lovely face.  
"Tigress, honey. Your heart wouldn't yearn for something that's actually out of your reach. And if Tai-Lung was really dead, your mind would have told you somehow."

"Like how?" I asked, confused but hopeful.  
"Like … you may have had a dream that wasn't so sexual." That's when Viper leaned into me again. "So what all did he do again? I forgot to grill you for the answers."

I rolled my eyes. "Viper..."  
"Well, a girl has to know these things!" She exclaimed.  
"Viper..." I groaned, trying not to laugh.  
"Aw come on. I'll tell you about when, I gave Crane a blo-"  
"VIPER!" I cut her off, laughing at the top of my lungs. Viper was laughing hard as well and we settled back into what was left of the hot tub water, smiling sweetly at each other.

"So... Was he aggressive and sexy, at least?" Viper then asked  
"He was certainly everything my mind wanted." I purred. "And he mated me like I was a-"  
"Slut?" Viper cut in again, making me snort uncontrollably and laugh for a moment.

"Like _his_ slut." I added, rubbing my nose. "I snorted didn't I?"  
"Only once. Thank god." She laughed.  
"Yeah, thank god." I laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

**[ A/N: For those of you who are so... adamantly, interested in viewing the X-Rated deleted scenes of Timeless, please contact me with a Private Message. Since I believe it's against the rules to just toss that stuff around.**

**Additionally, I don't often commit rules to memory. ]**

- 9 -

_Po..._

"er... En... Ah... oh... u... E... EEh... EE-NA-HOO-ZUM!"

Gah! I snapped awake from my awesome dream to look around my room. To my misfortune, my bounty of riches were no where to be found. I raised one of my strong, Dragon Warrior brand, arms... And found no Tigress, that I swore was there when I was dreaming. Then I lifted my other matching Dragon Warrior brand arm, and found no other girl, probably Mei-Ling, who I also thought was certainly there when I was dreaming.

I checked down my pants, and I was still just as equipped as usual. And I checked my face... No tattoos. No piercings, and no hickeys. Dream Tigress could leave a mean hickey... Whatever it was.

Like... A crasin or something...

So I decided to do what every Dragon Warrior would do in a situation like this... Have a snack and head back to dream land.

I threw one of my arms around next to my stash of emergency rations, for when I was too wounded to press on. Really, my emergency rations were just my noodle bowls that I didn't completely finish, and... being _wounded_ in my bed room was kind of hard to do; but saying _wounded_ sounded a lot cooler than saying '_Too tired to get up'_. I thumbed around, and didn't really find anything at first. My room was dark, and my eyes were closed. But eventually my hands came across a small bean, settled in the bottom of a noodle bowl that I didn't finish.

I opened my eyes to check and see what I had discovered, only to realize my room was actually... Well lit from the morning sun. The room was just dark because I still had my eyes closed. So, I checked out what I found, and it was... _actually just a bean_. And I suddenly remember this bean too. It was the bean that was floating in my bowl of noodles from my Dad's shop. I didn't know what it was when I first saw it, so I pushed it to the side and sucked down my bowl of food without eating that odd piece. I was going to ask my Dad about it, but I … kind of forgot.

But here I was now, faced with the choice of choosing between an old bean I found in an old bowl of cold noodles... Or get up, and go to the kitchen, that was very far away, just to make more food.

The bean won. By a land slide.

Without much of a care, I tossed the bean back into my mouth, and started biting. That's when, as if by cue, I heard someone calling for me.

"Hey Po, can I ask you a quick question?" I heard Crane's voice coming through the rice paper wall of my front door, but I kept chewing my bean, as funny as that sounds.

Crane placed his hand on the door to open it...

… _But when he opened the door. He was completely missing._

"_Crane?" I called out to him, but got no response. "Crane?" I called again... still nothing._

"_Crane?" A third time I called out to him. Not getting a response worried me, so I stood up and walked towards my open door and searched the hallways... To try and see someone, anyone... But I saw nothing._

"_Crane? . . . Crane? . . . Hey Craaane?" And still nothing._

_I wandered the Halls of the dormitories, and over heard Master Shifu's voice. _

"_I don't understand." He muttered, sounding completely out of breath.  
"What is there to understand?" A woman's voice spoke out, clearly talking to Shifu. "I love you, and I want you to rule beside me."_

"_W-what?!" I gasped, and began to creep forward, to where Master Mantis' room was. "Love?! Shifu?!"_

"_FengHaung... I... I love you too, but there's no way we can Over throw Master Oogway! He's too powerful! He's too skilled! And he gave us purpose and meaning. He's like our father!" Shifu argued with this woman.  
"Master Oogway is an old fool, Shifu. He doesn't want us to practice Kung-Fu independently because he fears we will get too strong. He doesn't want us to fall in love, because he fears that we'll realize our strength lies in unity with others... Each other. And-"  
"FENGHAUNG!" Shifu barked out, but I heard him get slammed down to the floor. I was going to barge in, but... I decided not to, especially remembering that that other woman was there._

"_He doesn't want us to become too powerful, Shifu! Because he fears that he'll lose his foot hold as the Master of the Jade Palace. This wonderful place could be ours! Ours! ALL OURS!"_

"_F-FENGHAUNG!" Shifu moaned out loud, making the fur on the back of spine stand up on end. I peeked in through a small hole in the Rice Paper wall, to see this large owl woman, bouncing up and down on top of an incredibly young looking Master Shifu._

_I gasped quietly. "I... I must have traveled backwards in time...! __**Cool!**__" But... I don't think my quiet was quiet enough._

_All of a suddenly, six knives came barreling through the wall at me, and I dove down the hall with the agility of a leopard. But not like... A Snow Leopard, I'm much faster than that. I think._

"_WHO'S THERE?!" The owl woman shouted as she took a naked stance in the Hallway, surrounded by smoke and dust. And by naked, I meant __**she**__ was naked... Because she was apparently... __**doing Master Shifu.**__'_

_Which is totally metal..._

…

…

_I think._

"_FengHaung!" I called out to her. Walking up to the naked owl woman as I cut through the smoke and debris fog like a total bad ass.  
"What?" She looked me up and down. "Who the fuck are you?"_

"_Lady." I paused, and took up my signature Panda Style Stance. "I'm __**The Dragon Warrior**__!"_

"_The..." FengHaung snickered once. "The Dragon Warrior? What in the hell is a Dragon Warrior?"  
"The Dragon Warrior is the mightiest warrior in all the land, who's power was bestowed upon him by Master Sh- Master Oogway himself, by the almighty Dragon Scroll!"  
"Heh... What in the hell are you talking about you talentless, poorly dressed, immature, fat bastard?"_

"_W-what?!" I grunted, and was going to rush forward but Shifu, or really... Young Shifu, suddenly appeared between me and the half naked Owl Lady._

"_..." He didn't say anything at first, but the way he had lowered his brown kimono off of his shoulders and draped it over his twigs and berries like it was a jacket made him look totally like a badass. And he was protecting a woman, from the Dragon Warrior. It was so coo- … wait, am I a bad guy!?_

"_Who do you think you are?! Barging in here? Spying on me and FengHaung. Challenging her to a fight and claiming a title no one has ever heard of?!" Shifu began shouting at me, sounding exactly like the Shifu I knew. _

"_Wait... Wait, hold on-" I tried to talk, but it wasn't happening.  
"You must be some kind of lost soul in dire need of release from life, because you're asking for a death sentence and signing your own death certificate!" Shifu then took a stance, that was immediately imitated by FengHaung. Both of them had lowered themselves into a White Crane style low sweeping stance... At the exact same time. So... COOL! _

_Oh wait, White Crane Sweeping Stance sucks..._

"_Wait! I'm not a bad guy! I'm a good g-" I barely had a moment to talk. Before I could get a word out, or a hand up in defense. I was suffering cuts and bruises from these two warriors on nearly every part of my body. My entire frame was screaming out in pain, and I could have sworn, I was only standing on my feet for about ten seconds while they were hitting me. I opened my eyes, to see Master Shifu's small foot, and FengHaung's large bird foot, kicking me in the face. I went soaring backwards like a heavy bag of chucked rice, and went breaking through the wall of the dorm rooms, fumbling out into the court yard, where my legs refused to work, even though I had the will to fight._

"_FengHaung." Shifu called out to his partner. "Are you hurt?"  
"No, of course not." She reassured him. "Are you?"_

"_No." Shifu responded, and they embraced tightly. I could see all this from where I was lying, in a growing pool of my own blood and tears... Seeing Shifu with a woman was... so awesome. Even though I was in screaming pain, my fan-geek-boy senses were blowing up._

"_FengHaung..." Shifu whispered and leaned up to kiss this Owl woman. Suddenly my fan senses weren't tingling, it was more like my stomach wanted to up-chuck... And I didn't know why. I saw FengHaung, the owl, really enjoying the kiss, but she broke it early to stare down into my young Master's eyes._

"_Shifu... Does this mean that you'll come with me?" FengHaung asked Shifu in an excited tone.  
"I... I don't want to fight our Master. I couldn't __**live **__with the fear, of you being hurt." Shifu admitted to her, smiling up into her eyes._

"_You couldn't?! But we're warriors, Shifu. We fight every day." She began to argue.  
"Yes but..." Shifu glanced down. "You clearly are the strongest of the Furious Five, and... I love you. Our Master would be a formidable foe, and I weren't able to avenge you, or protect or defend you... I would... I would..."_

_Shifu was going to finish, but the Owl seized him in her wings and pulled her close to him. "Then... what do you suggest we do?"  
"Run away with me." Shifu pulled back to stare up into FengHaung's eyes. "We can leave all this behind and be happy together... forever."  
"Run away... But... But Sh-" It was now the Owl's turn to argue, but Shifu cut her off._

"_I could never stand the sight of seeing you wounded. Let's just run away together and forget all this, FengHaung." _

_The owl smiled, and nodded her head slowly. "Okay, for you, my darling. Let's run away together."_

"_n...No!" I gasped, terrified at what the future might hold if Shifu ran away with this owl woman. I would never be the Dragon Warrior and Tigress and Tai-Lung would never be born!  
"NO!" I shouted out at them._

_But without warning, FengHaung shot into the air with Shifu holding onto her tightly, even though the both of them were still half naked._

"_No! NO! NO!" I shouted. "Don't RUN! NO! DON'T RUN AWAY!" _

"Don't run away!" I cried out loud.

"W-what?!" Crane jumped back, now suddenly reappearing in front of me.

"Wha?" I glanced around my room. Still no riches, bitches or tattoos, but... I was still here, with no welts, wounded or cuts... And... I was probably still the Dragon Warrior.

"CRANE!" I suddenly shouted, and ran towards the bird, seizing him by his shoulders. "Quick! What am I?"

"A lazy fat ass, who gets by on pure luck, sympathy, immature behavior, excess body fat, nerd logic and the grace of god?" Crane suddenly spit out that sentence like he'd had that phrase on speed dial ever since he met me... Like... A month or so ago.

"Uh... Wow... Am... I... still the Dragon Warrior?" I asked, probably still looking surprised out of my head.  
"Yeah... I think you are, even though you're acting weirder than Viper!" Crane then shouted at me.

"What?" I questioned, but was ignored by Crane's sudden out burst.  
"Why doesn't Viper want to be around me anymore?! Is it my beak?!" He began flapping around in my arms, and broke my grip on him. He then began pacing the halls, complaining about Viper. Which was odd.

"I mean really. We hung out together all day yesterday, and now we get even more time to spend together, and... What is she doing!? Taking a bath with Tigress!"

I felt a hot flash wash over me for a moment, thinking about Tigress and Viper naked in the tub. Mei-Ling too, she's hot.

"A bath...? With Tigress? Viper and Tigress? In the tub? Naked?!" I exclaimed and shook Crane by his shoulders. "Do you know what this means?!"  
"Uh..." Crane paused. "That you're going to disregard anything I say next and act as if I said nothing?"

"No!" I let go of him. "That means that if we don't hurry-" I began.  
"That Viper will drift further and further away from me until I'm left alone with no one to hold at night?"  
"No!" I repeated myself. "This means if we don't hurry... Monkey and Mantis will get there first. Come on!" I broke past Crane and began charging down the hall.

"W-what? What?!" Crane squawked, and flapped behind me. "What does this have to do with my problems? And what does that even mean?!"  
"It means we gotta get there before it's all gone!" I shouted and lead the heroic charge out of the dormitories, and tripped over someone in the hall way.

"Gaah!" I shouted, tumbling and rolling to a halt. I turned to see who was in the hall way that was so short I couldn't notice them, to see Zeng the Messenger duck.

"Zeng?" Crane spoke up before I could. "Are you alright?" Crane aided the duck up off the floor, and he patted off his outfit with a light, nervous laugh.

"Y-yes, Masters. Thank you." He bowed. "Master Crane, I have a message for you and the other Masters."  
"For the other Masters?" I saw Crane stand up straight, like he was going to take the message, but as the Dragon Warrior, I knew I was included in that list too.

"Well, I can take the me-" I cut in before Crane could finish.  
"You can tell me the Message, Zeng. I'm the Dragon Warrior after all. Anything that needs to be known around here, can go through me first."

"...Hmm?" Zeng glanced up at me, he looked a little confused at first but my mighty stature and height must have been too daunting for him.

"The, Dragon Warrior?" Zeng blinked a few times. "Wow, so you... defeated Master Tai-Lung... Uh... Surprising."

"No kidding." Crane added in from behind me.

"Hey-" I frowned, "My defeating Tai-Lung wasn't _surprising_, it was **Awesome!**And I have Shifu to thank for that."

"And Master Oogway for picking you over any of us, the Furious Five." Crane added in with a sigh in his voice.  
"Oh, and the Palace Chef's that had to feed you for your long journey." Zeng chipped in too, while he dug through his vest, searching for something.  
"Don't forget Master Viper." Crane chipped in again from behind my back, where he was standing.

"Master Viper...? For what?" I turned to look at Crane over my shoulder.  
"For holding back Master Tigress. She was going to beat you senseless the day you arrived."  
"T-the day?!" A gasped escaped me, but Crane chuckled a little, as if the thought of me being beaten was funny.

"Well..." He touched his beak with a wing as if he were trying to scratch his chin or something. "Really, it was the literal moment you hit the ground. She was going to attack you for invading the Dragon Warrior Ceremony, but... Master Viper held her back. Viper is good at that."

"Whoa..." I paused, but smiled. "Well I guess it's a good thing Viper stopped Tigress. We wouldn't have wanted to see the Dragon Warrior injured, now would we?"

Crane's staring at me, slowly shifted from a bored, unimpressed expression to a more... annoyed, almost upset and unimpressed expression... No clue why. But I turned back to Zeng, since I heard him clearing his throat.

"So, Zeng? News for the Dragon Warrior?" I asked him, trying to look impressive.  
"I suppose." He unrolled the scroll in his hands and read out loud.

"Masters of the Furious Five. We request your aid in restoring the Valley to it's full glory at your earliest convenience. We will be holding a feast at sundown and wish for all the Masters to attend, to celebrate the Dragon Warrior. Please wear appropriate clothing. Signed... hbbr flubbr hbbrr..." Zeng then coughed into his fist a little.

"Signed by... Who?" I asked.

"That's not important... I read most of it..." Zeng muttered and looked past me, at Master Crane. "Please, pass this message along to Master Shifu whenever you have time. I'm sure he would be interested in hearing the news as well."

Crane walked around me and accepted Zeng's scroll, and allowed the duck to leave.

"Whoa, cool!" I clapped my hands together. "A Dragon Warrior ceremony! Tonight!"

I turned back to Crane with my face full of excitement, but he had already turned away from me, looking off somewhere else like the Blair Witch... even though I have no idea what a Blair Witch is.

"Hey Crane!" I called out to him. "Isn't it cool?! I'm going to get my own ceremony! Tonight!"  
Crane turned back to me with a half smile, "That's . . . great."  
"Isn't it?!" I was bursting with excitement. "I wonder if they'll have bean buns? Oooo, or Wontons! I love Wontons!"  
"Aren't Wonton's … uh... Unhealthy?"

"They're not Unhealthy! They're the most wonderful things I've ever eaten!" I grinned brightly.  
"...You've eaten them?" Crane still didn't look impressed. "When? Where? How?"  
"Well you just pop em in your mouth and chew. Kinda like a blowjob... right?"  
"Wrong..." Crane sighed, covering his face. "When did you actually _eat_ wontons? As far as I know, they're only _sold in certain places..._ Places that are more dangerous than the slums surrounding my home town."

"More dangerous than … Sun-Lo Slums? Are they more dangerous than Gongmen City?"  
"At least ten times more dangerous, Po." Crane sighed again. He sighed a lot, just like Tigress... Or anyone that talked to me for a long time. I've noticed that.

"So," Crane clapped his beak at me, stuffing the scroll Zeng gave him into his belt. "When did you have wontons? They're rarely seen in the valley because of what's inside them."  
"Uh... well... There was a traveling merchant that came through the Valley a year or two ago. He arrived with Tang the Toy Vendor, and that purple haired Japanese cat lady."

"So... you bought it, from a merchant, had no idea what it was, and ate it anyway?" Crane was questioning me like I'm an idiot, but I'm not an idiot. I'm the Dragon Warrior!  
"Of course I ate it. It's food, Crane! It's not murder!"

". . . OKAY!" Crane shouted at me. I leaned back, not getting why he would agree, so loudly.  
"Gah, Crane. You don't have to shout." I mumbled, rubbing my head with a paw.

I didn't get an answer as to why, Crane shouted at me, because a room door opened up right beside me and Crane. We each turned to look into the room and saw no one.

"Oh no! I'm going back in time again?!" I gasped, and stepped back, hoping I wouldn't get kicked by Shifu's girlfriend again.

"...What _are_ you talking about dude?" I heard Mantis shouting up at me all of a suddenly.  
"Back in time?" Crane muttered, "Wow..."

"So... what's with the yelling dude?" Mantis questioned the White Crane while I tried to come to terms with time travel. Because it had to be real, for the Dragon Warrior at least.

"I was … debating with this guy." Crane gestured at me, while I was looking at my arms like they were on fire, trying to figure out this time travel thing.  
"How did that go?" Mantis asked with a laugh.  
"... About as well as you would expect; He told me he was the Dragon Warrior and as far as I knew, the argument was over." Crane shook his head, "Anyway. We've got some news from the Valley."

"Yeah?" Mantis jumped up to Crane, but lost his footing and fell back to the floor.  
"Sorry, Mantis." Crane laughed nervously.  
"Oh, it's fine dude." Mantis stood up and adjusted his antennae. "I forgot you don't really have shoulders for me to land on."

"Well speaking of shoulders..." Crane looked around, "Where is Monkey?"  
"I don't really know. I haven't seen him since he ran off to go read where the light is better." Mantis shrugged and leaned forward to point at the scroll tucked in his belt. "So what you got there, buddy?"

"Oh." Crane pointed at the same Scroll. "This is a note from... uh... someone. Telling us that we need to assemble in the Valley to aide with the clean up, and... that the Dragon Warrior is getting a feast in his honor."  
"What...?" Mantis balked.  
"Yeah, I know... It also says we need to dress formally." Crane continued on, but Mantis repeated himself even louder.

"What?! What do you mean _from someone?_" The green Mantis' antennae twitched.  
"Well uh... Zeng didn't really read off who it was sent from. He just kind of … coughed into his fist a little, then said he read it." Crane said while pulling the Scroll out of his belt.

I, the Dragon Warrior, felt it was my duty to walk over to be as nosy as possible. And to figure out what the scroll said, because that's not nosy. Knowledge _is _power after all. As Crane opened the scroll, me and Mantis read along with what it said, mostly staying on the same page until we reached the end of the scroll where normally you would see a name signed... But all we saw were...

"Hoof prints?" Mantis grunted. "Really?! Hoof prints? From everyone in the Valley?!"  
"Apparently so." Crane rolled up the scroll and scratching his head.  
"... So what? The villagers are treating us like public servants now?" Mantis began to complain, turning to me with an angry look in his eye.

"W-what?" I jumped back a little, concerned about myself.  
"What do you mean _W-what?!_ If these Villagers start treating us, the Furious Five, like common peasants... Heads are going to roll buddy. Mantis aint no security guard, I'm apart of the Furious Five."

"Hey Mantis, calm down... It's probably nothing like that." Crane cut in to save my bacon . . . wait . . . Bacon?  
"Really, Crane... Really?" Mantis turned back to glare at Crane now. "How do you know? We weren't the ones that killed Tai-Lung. We weren't the ones who saved the Valley. We're just the ones who fought Tai-Lung first, and _lost._"

"I know we lost Mantis, but... Don't blame Po for it." Crane sighed, looking up at me. I smiled a bit, glad he was taking my side, but he quickly frowned. "But, if the citizens stop caring about us, I'm outta here."  
"You and me both, buddy." Mantis chirped and began jumping down the hallway, with Crane following.

"Psh, _Come to the Valley. Help us fix it, then get some food for the Dragon Warrior. OooooOOoooo_." Mantis jeered on, while he was leaving. "Did you notice that half those guys don't even wear shoes? It's like _Come here tapeworms, jump into my feet."_  
"Heh heh, yeah." Crane half agreed, and the two of them vanished around a corner and out of the hallway, leaving me alone... again.

I wasn't really sure what to think since, Mantis became so mean so suddenly, and Crane was on my side but he turned on me too... Was I really going to make the Furious Five leave?

"Hey-Hey guys!" I gave chase, to try and catch up with them, hoping that I wouldn't run into another time rift or whatever made me go back in time to get beaten on by that Owl lady Shifu was … ugh.  
"Guys!" I called again, charging up to Mantis and Crane, who had been joined by an out of breath Monkey.

"Oh PO! Thank goodness you're here!" Monkey called out, as I ran up, also … suddenly out of breathe.  
"Is... that a joke, or are you being serious?" Crane asked while preening himself.  
"Monkey is never serious." Mantis chuckled, and jumped up to find his place on Monkey's open shoulder.

"I can, thankfully say," Monkey coughed and cleared his throat. "That I am never serious, unless I have to be. Although, right now I don't have to be, I just am."  
"Okay, well?" I asked, "What's the news, Monkey? Bandits?"

"Oh please." Monkey grinned, "Bandits wouldn't come around after what you did."  
"Heh heh, well-" I was going to start bashfully gloating for myself, but Monkey cut me off.  
"Actually it's just weird. You know that hole where Tai-Lung went punching into the ground?"

"Yes." I answered.  
"No." Mantis responded.  
"Um... No." Crane also answered the same way Mantis did.

"Uh... Okay well... Next to that hole, is the hole where you did the Wuxi Fingerhold."  
"Oh yeah!" I cut in, "The Wuxi Fingerhold is so—awesome!"  
"We know." Crane cut me off. "Continue Monkey."

"Thanks." Monkey nodded, "Well that hole... It's spitting out, fog!"  
"...Wha?" Mantis scratched his tiny head. "Fog?"  
"Fog!" Monkey repeated himself.

"Fog..." Crane exhaled deeply, trying to understand Monkey.  
"Yeah. Fog! It looks like someone is burning a tiny tiny Village and the smoke is rolling all over the village!" Monkey added in, waving his arms in the air. "And it smells like old socks!"

"Augh, well... That's pleasant." Crane muttered. "So... What are we supposed to do about it?"  
"Yeah," Mantis added in. "Did the Villagers request us to fix that too?"

"Well no." Monkey scratched his chin. "To be honest... I saw it myself when I went to go read. I didn't think much of it when I first passed it, but when I was coming back-"

"Wait..." I cut in, confused. "What do you mean... You went to go _read._"  
"Yeah." Monkey nodded, looking innocent.  
"Why do you go to the Valley for that?!" I asked, deeply confused.  
"Because the light is better!"Monkey said, grinning at me with his full row of surprisingly white teeth.

"Ugh." Mantis jumped up to Monkey's head to look down into his eyes. "Look, if we're done talking about your movements, can we talk more about this... fog?"  
"Oh right." Monkey laughed, then began explaining. "The Valley. Yeah, there's fog everywhere. It wasn't much when I got there, but when I was leaving, it was all over the place. People can't even see their own feet."  
"Bad news for the tape worms." Mantis muttered.

"What?" Monkey paused.  
"Never mind that-" Crane then cut in. "So how do you know this... fog, is coming from the Wuxi Fingerhold hole?"  
"Because it's the biggest hole there, and people kept calling it '_The Dragon Hole'_."

I coughed out loud like I'd swallowed a bug, or some pencil shavings. "W-what? The _Dragon Hole?_"  
"The … Dragon Hole?" Crane repeated.  
"Yeah... The Dragon Hole? What the shit?" Mantis half chuckled, half grunted.

"I... don't know." Monkey shook his head, "I don't ask. I just know what I hear." Monkey straightened up, placing Mantis on his shoulder again.

"Anyways," He continued. "I came running up here as soon as I could to find anyone."  
"Well," Crane pulled the news scroll out of his belt. "We also got this scroll from the Valley. Requesting to help with the repairs of the Valley. In the Valley."  
"Yeah?" Mantis scratched his chin. "Well considering they're asking. It would be rude to not help."

"I guess we _are_ the defenders of the Valley, right guys?" I said, trying to get everyone apart of the work force.

Crane, Mantis and Monkey slowly turned to me with confused and annoyed looks in their faces.

"Uh... yeah." Monkey said slowly, as if he was trying to find the right words to use when talking to me. "Say Po..."  
"Yeah?"  
"Weren't you running here like you had urgent news to say? You know, when I was catching my breath?"

I stopped to think for a moment... Oh yeah! I did have important news to discuss with my friends but, I didn't know where to start first. Should I tell them about my noodle nightmare dream about eating a bean and going back in time? Or should I tell them about Tigress and Viper in the tub, doing girly things?

Monkey tapped his foot impaitently, "Well?"  
"Uh..." I stammered.  
"Dude-" Mantis sighed. "Do you have something to say or not? There's like... Stuff to do that we should be doing."  
"You mean like, helping the people of the Valley?" Crane said while readjusting his belt.  
"Well that and breakfast." Mantis replied. "I mean... You know, IF we can get through the fog."

"Hey, stick with me buddy. I know the way through that fog like the back of my hand." Monkey grinned.  
"Oh if there's anything you know intently, it's your hand." Mantis began laughing out loud, which made Crane laugh, and I started laughing too because everyone else was.

"Haha, hey guys... Why are we laughing?" I cut in, causing the laughter to stop.  
"...Skip it." Monkey began walking past me into the dormitories. "Let's go get some food."

"Uh... Aren't we supposed to go help with the Valley?" I asked, turning around to look at the three men walking away. But Monkey paused when he heard me.  
"Oh right, I just remembered."  
"That... we're supposed to fix the Valley?" I asked, hoping I'd helped.

"No." Monkey replied. "That that purple haired merchant lady is back, and she's selling drinks!"  
"Isn't that the stuff that gave you a hang over?" Mantis laughed.  
"You know what's good for a hang over?" Crane spoke up. "A Gongmen Oyster."

"Hey guys..." I cut in. "What's a hang-over?"  
Monkey laughed. "Hey, come on. I'll show you."  
"Uh okay." I began following the train of Monkey, Mantis and Crane... then remembered something. "Oh guys!"

"Yeah, what?" Mantis called back at me.  
"Should we go check on Master Shifu? We haven't seen him for a full day."  
"**We** haven't." Crane muttered. "You have... He must be okay."

"Uh... kinda, but … Wouldn't it be nice to check on him? Before we go get hung over something?" I was standing still while I was talking, just watching the train of the Furious Five wander away again. But, thanks to my input, they all turned around and started walking back up the stairs, walking past me and back up to the Jade Palace.

"Shifu may know something about this fog." Crane mentioned, stretching his neck and rolling his shoulders.  
"He can also tell us what's the deal with the people, sending these improper missives to get our attention." Mantis spoke up, still irritated about the scroll.  
"And we can finally ask about that _Chi_ that Tigress was so interested in yesterday." Monkey added in, coming up to the last stairs of the Jade Palace stairs.

"Tigress!" I paused, coming to _another_ realization.

The three members of the Furious Five began looking around in all directions.

"Dude!" Mantis shouted at me, "What the hell?"  
"What?" I gasped.  
"Don't yell _TIGRESS!_ Unless she's about to punch one of us!" Mantis groaned out loud. "My heart nearly skipped a beat."

"Yeah Po," Monkey added in. "Tigress is our leader. And if you shout her name, we try not to goof off. Because she's not crazy like we are."  
"No, Tigress is more strict." Crane added.  
"What, like you?" Mantis turned to Crane.  
"Yes like m—NO!" Crane clapped his beak. "Like Master Shifu!"

"Right, Master Shifu. Who we're going to see right now, so we can go get some breakfast." Mantis responded. "So let's go."

"No wait guys!" I called out to them, which all three of them groaned out loud.

"What is it Po?" All three of them turned to me and shouted in unison.

"Well... Tigress is..." I began muttering.

"Tigress is what?" Monkey rolled his eyes. "If she's not here, then I don't care."  
"Yeah man, Tigress can take care of herself. It's not like she's been kidnapped by some... some... Giant Black Lion or something!" Mantis said, waiving his arms for dramatics.  
"Mantis." Crane rubbed his beak with his wings in frustration. "Why... would you even think that that could ever happen?"  
"Man, I've got powers... Not to mention women love being kidnapped." He began to laugh.

"Kidnapped?! No they don't!" Crane began shouting.  
"Oh yes they do!" Mantis retorted. "They love to be in distress, especially if their being fought over by two attractive men. Like... Me and _my man here._" Mantis said, while patting Monkey on the head.

"We're attractive?" Monkey began giggling.  
"We're not just attractive. We're _Damn _attractive." Mantis tried to confirm, but Crane rolled his eyes.

"Well... what ab-" I tried to talk again, but Mantis and Monkey cut in.

"So! How about we go get some drinks?" Mantis suggested, turning and pointing to the Valley.  
"We... should go visit Shifu first." Monkey rubbed his chin.  
"What do you think Crane?" Mantis turned to Crane, who was adjusting his hat.

"Against my better judgment..." Crane turned to me, "Let's see what the Dragon Warrior has to say."

"Uh... We could... Go check on Tigress and Viper?" I suggested.  
"Why the hell would we want to go do that?" Mantis asked me sternly.  
"Yeah..." Monkey grunted. "Tigress should be fine... I mean what are they doing? Bathing?"

"Uh... Yes." I said, feeling awkward for a moment.  
"Wait … What really?" Mantis began coughing?  
"Are you serious?" Monkey laughed, "How did you hear about this?"

"Crane." I admitted, pointing at Crane.

"Hey! Great job buddy!" Monkey patted Crane on his hat and took off running for the bath houses.  
"Yeah man, we'll thank you later!" Mantis was laughing all the way as Monkey took off at top speed.

"P-PO! PO! POOOOOO!"  
"Are you saying... Po, or Poo?" I asked, with a finger raised, and my eyes closed, then Crane totally punched me in the face.

"What were you thinking?!" Crane started shouting at me. "Why would you send Monkey and Mantis off to spy and peep on Tigress and Viper?!"  
"I don't know, I don't know!" I shouted, holding onto my face and grunting. "But... But-"

"But what?" I heard Crane's voice growing fainter, and I opened my eyes and moved my hands to see he was walking away.  
"W-where are you going?"  
"Go to stop Monkey and Mantis from peeping in on Tigress and Viper!"

I sat up, dusting off my shorts. "How? By getting there first?"  
"..." Crane didn't even say anything as he opened his wings and flew off after the others.

I watched Crane fly away in such an angry huff, that most of his feathers were still cascading to the ground like falling autumn leaves. I probably shouldn't have said anything, but I didn't know what else to say. I've only been the Dragon Warrior for a few weeks, and I have no real idea what the Dragon Warrior even does...

Without any real guidance, friends, or idea of what to do, I found myself wandering to the only person that seemed to tolerate my questions and attention span.

I approached his room door and gently knocked, hoping that I wouldn't be shunned away.

"Who is it?!" A gruff voice echoed out towards me, and I heard the shuffling of papers, glasses and wooden objects.  
"It's me, Master Shifu. Po … you know, the Dragon Warrior."

"Oh. Well... One moment." Master Shifu called back to me from the other side of his room door. I wasn't even in the Jade Palace anymore, I was in the single wing of Shifu's dormitory, that was more like a long hallway that lead to one giant luxurious bedroom. Master Shifu was a very secretive man, and he clearly valued his space since he would sleep in a place so far away from everyone else. But what was the most mysterious thing about Master Shifu was that he never once told anything about his past to anyone. I know everything there is to know about Kung-Fu. I'd dare say that I was the most educated panda when it came to Kung-Fu knowledge, but I actually didn't know that much about Master Shifu's history or his past.

I knew about his history with Tai-Lung, and I knew about his history with Master Tigress and his time spent training Master Monkey and his life training while under Master Oogway. But... I knew nothing about FengHaung... I had so many questions to ask him but, I wasn't even certain how he would act if I brought up his ex... friend. His ex-girlfriend. His ex-girlfrenemy!

Finally, Master Shifu slid open his bed room door, and he was standing before me dressed as he normally did, in his brown decorated gi. But he looked sort of unhealthy, namely because he had bags under his eyes like did 200 yuan in grocery shopping this morning, and his eyes were blood shot, and his smoke smelt like heavy, stinky smoke. But other than that he looked normal.

"Please, Panda... come in." Shifu coughed gently into his fist and turned to allow me into his room.  
"Thanks, Master Shifu." I stepped into the room, past my Master, to see his room... Kind of empty, compared to when I had seen it earlier.  
"Uh... Master, what happened to your room?" I inquired, turning back to look at him in the doorway, but he wasn't there. Even though the door was shut. "Huh? Did he leave me in here alone?"

I turned around to see Master Shifu standing in front of me, and I jumped back, gasping for a moment. "Gaaah!"  
"Are you alright?" He asked, squinting at me for a moment.  
"Uh yeah, I'm fine." I wiped off my brow. "I just didn't expect you to be moving so fast. You look a little under the weather is all."

"I do?" Master Shifu paused and began stroking his beard. "Hmm..." He turned away from me and picked up a mirror, examining himself.  
"Are _you_ okay, Master? Have your recovered from your injuries after that fight with Tai-Lung?"  
Master Shifu nodded, while checking out his teeth, gums and eye sockets. "I told you yesterday, I would be fine after about an hour... I recovered from my injuries hours ago."

"Did it hurt?" I asked, not even thinking about what was coming out of my mouth.  
"...Did what hurt? My injuries, or my recovery?" Shifu turned to look at me, irritatingly shaking his right ear. Which was usually a bad thing.  
"Uh... Both?"  
"Be quiet, Po." Shifu sighed and turned away from me, and back to his mirror.

"Heh heh, o-okay." I rubbed my head with a paw. "So... Master Shifu, I've got a question."  
"If it's about Tai-Lung, don't bother asking. I don't know anything." He quickly said. Although I wasn't planning on asking about Tai-Lung, everyone knew he was dead... Or, at least everyone hopes he's dead. I think.

"No, actually Master..." I began to laugh a little, not sure how to structure my question. "Have you ever... uh... Traveled in Time?"  
"...?" Master Shifu stopped grooming himself in his hand held mirror and slowly turned back to look at me. "...Pardon?"

I felt really stupid for asking, but I repeated my question anyway. "Have you ever, traveled in Time?"  
"Not forward, no." He answered, folding his arms behind his back.  
"Oh... Yeah, you're right. I figured it did sound kind of st-" I paused, and would have spit out a drink if I was drinking one. "Wait... you said you HAVE traveled in time?!"

"Yes." Shifu plainly answered me.  
"W-what?! Really?! How!? Everyone else thought I was crazy when I told them!"  
"You told someone about this?" Shifu squinted at me again, as if he was peering into my very innocent lying soul.

"Well you see..." I started scratching the back of my head again.  
"Panda, I don't like lying. So tell me exactly what you have on your mind, or _get out._" Shifu always got cross with me whenever I started acting like I didn't know what was going on … Sadly, I usually didn't know what was going on. Mostly because I quit paying attention during his speeches.

"Okay, so … I may have traveled back in time once and... Went back to the time before uh..." I began looking around the room. "Before... Tai-Lung?"  
"WHAT?!" Shifu roared and dove at me, throwing me to the floor with no effort what so ever.

"G-gah!? Master?!" I shrieked as he flipped onto my chest to glare down into my face.  
"How far back, and who have you told of this?!" He growled with an anger I've only seen whenever I would criticize his giant ears.  
"N-Nobody!" I squealed.

"Answer the question in the form it was asked, Panda!" Shifu was still glaring down at me, giving me no time to think.  
"Okay okay!" I gasped, "I don't know how many years back it was, but... I was in... I was in the dormitories! And I saw you and an Owl talking about quitting the Furious Five!"

"An... An owl?!" Shifu was still glaring down at me but his expression faded from anger to sadness incredibly quickly. "The owl..." He sighed and climbed down off of me, and began to wander towards a tall wardrobe closet in the corner of his room.

"Are you okay, Master Shifu? I didn't mean to get you mad or anything."  
"It's _Make_ me mad, Panda... You didn't _intend_ to _make_ me mad." He sighed, approaching his wardrobe and pulling it open. "And I'm not upset... I'm... sad."

When the wardrobe opened, I was taken back by all that I was suddenly allowed to see. The wardrobe didn't have a single shred of clothing inside. It was actually a giant shrine, apparently, dedicated to all the women Shifu had ever met and... apparently had a thing for.

"Whoa, Master." I admitted, approaching the wardrobe. "Is this what I think it is."  
"It's a closet of tender memories from close friends from the past!" Shifu quickly shouted at me.

I examined the painted scrolls and tufts of cloth from … various … clothes and napkins... and... under garments.

"Um... Master?" I examined everything I could, trying not to feel too creeped out. Peering into this wardrobe actually felt like I was peering straight into the field diary of a serial stalker. Master Shifu actually had pictures made of all the women he had met over the years. There was a picture of the Owl that had attacked me, FengHaung, looking … far more sultry than I ever imagined. There was a picture of a white wolf in covered in red tattoos that was exposing far more flesh than I thought was allowed. There were several pictures of feline leopards dressed in black, and another with deep purple hair... But actually on further inspection, the purple haired leopard was actually the vendor that would come through town on occasion.

Each scroll was accompanied by some type of cloth or fabric material that Master Shifu somehow got his hands on, and if I wasn't mistaken... it may also possess the scent of the original owner but there was no way I was going to smell anything in Shifu's Sin Bin.

"Uh... Master?"  
"If you tell anyone you've ever seen this, I will personally sever your skull from your spine, and replace your intestines with live eels." Shifu said sternly, without even looking at me.

I swallowed hard, understanding that Master Shifu wasn't kidding me for even a second, and I began nodding furiously. "Yes, Master. Of course Master."

"Now," He said, confident in his ability to scare me to the point of almost crapping my shorts. "The woman you were referring to was my old ally, FengHaung." He said, while stepping forward to pull down the portrait of FengHaung. It was like every other portrait that was hung up … Sexy. But FengHaung was an Owl I've never heard of before, even though she was apparently Shifu's girlfriend.

"Yeah, I met her when I went back to the past." I stammered, trying to regain my composure.  
"Ah... FengHaung." He sighed, admiring the picture of FengHaung's '_Let's get Naked Together'_ expression in her portrait. "What did you learn of her?"

"That uh..." I scratched my chin. "That she wanted you to run away with her?" I half lied, hoping that Shifu wouldn't realize that I saw him and her bumping uglies. If that's actually means what they were doing.

Shifu nodded, stroking the picture gently and making his left ear twitch furiously with horny excitement.  
"FengHaung was my ally, and my closest friend of the past." He admitted to me, turning to smile up at me far more disturbing than I could ever imagine he would have.

"I assumed as much." I laughed nervously.  
"Have you any idea why me and FengHaung were such close companions?"  
"Uh..." I searched my brain for a lie. I madly scrambled through my head to find a suitable lie! "Because... you two were the strongest?"

Shifu paused, looking shocked for a minute, as if he expected me to say something else. Or really, he just _didn't_ expect me to say _that._

"Actually..." He muttered. "Yes. That's absolutely right. And here I was thinking you were going to tell me that you caught me and FengHaung kissing."  
"No!" I feigned my own knowledge. "No, how would I know anything like that? Pssh, I bet you two weren't even involved like that."

Shifu was silent at he stared up at me. I grew quiet as well, putting on my '_I don't know what I'm even talking about'_ face, in order to throw off his suspicion.

"Heh heh," Shifu chuckled. "You know, you're a bad liar, Po."  
I gulped. "I... am?"  
"Yes." He admitted, placing FengHaung's portrait back into his shrine of women he secretly desires for. "But, I'm not going to pressure you into telling me what you know."  
"Y-you're not?" I sighed with relief.  
"No." He said, shutting the wardrobe and turning to me with another creepy grin. "Not at least."

"Uh, Master." I cut in, praying to get out of this completely awkward nightmare. "There's a disturbance in the Valley that requires your attention!"  
"...A disturbance?" Shifu's right ear twitched. "This isn't some _Po Crisis,_ like your father has run out of Soy Sauce again, is it?"  
"No, no no... Even though that is a crisis, it's nothing like that Master Shifu." I made a break for the door. "It's much much worse. Come on, I'll show you!"

I ran out of Shifu's room, impossibly happy that I had escaped that den of debauchery … If that's what debauchery even is...

"This... is much worse?" Shifu was standing on the stairs of the Jade Palace, staring down into the sweeping fog that Monkey had earlier described.  
"Well yes. Isn't … it?" I turned to him, hoping I didn't make myself look like a fool. Again.  
"Well, it is different, but this isn't a crisis, Po." Master Shifu stepped down off the stairs and into the fog, nearly losing half of his body in the rising sheet of obscuring vapors and mist.

"Hmm..." He rubbed his chin. "This may be a problem."  
"Ya think?" I muttered under my breath. But both me and Shifu flinched suddenly as we heard the loud report of shattering glass ringing out.

"T-that was from my Dad's shop!" I gasped.  
"That, sounds like a problem." Shifu grunted and started walking, and I started running.

When I charged into my Dad's shop, I looked left and right with my hands up to fight off some bandits, but all I saw were a bunch of drunken patrons, my Dad selling his soup to anything that moved and the lovely face of the purple haired cat lady that I always forget to introduce myself to.

"Oh Po!" I heard my Dad from the back of the store. "Come in! Come in! You're just in time!"  
"In time for what?" I asked with the first real smile on my face all morning... Well, aside from the smile I had when I was getting a triple hand shake from Mei-Ling and Tigress... However that worked, I can't remember... it was a dream.

"Time for the tasting!" Dad laughed and turned to the purple haired cat lady, who waved politely at me and Master Shifu.

"W-we're tasting her?"  
"Heh, your taste buds would melt out of your head." She suddenly responded at me.  
"Po!" Dad then waked my arm. "Be more polite to our esteemed guest!" Dad then pulled my head down towards his, whispering. "She's also willing to pay two yuan per drink sold, just to sit in my shop and sling her beverages."

"Beverages?" I repeated after my Dad. "Is that what we're tasting. What kind of beverages? Because I love Ginger Root Drinks!"  
"Heh, no... No Ginger. But I do have _hard _drinks." The purple haired merchant grinned, but a child went charging by, playing in the smoke and tossing large clumps of smoke balls as other children. "And... soft drinks."

"Hard Drinks?!" Shifu stepped forward, to approach the merchant cat lady. "How can you sell these things, during the day?!"  
The merchant turned to look down at Shifu. "They don't get sold unless people ask. If someone needs to take the edge off of their..." The merchant pulled out a small device from her coat and glanced at it for a moment... "Their seven thirty-five drudgery, then by all means I'll let them."

"It's not right!" Shifu put his foot down.  
"Hey hey hey..." Dad stepped forward. "Shifu... Why all this negative energy? Here, have some free bread, so you can have something in your stomach to soak up that alcohol."

Shifu turned to my Dad, looking as if he wasn't amused. And if there was any one thing I didn't want to see, it was my Dad arguing with Master Shifu. Thankfully that wasn't the case.

"Thank you, Mr. Ping. I haven't eaten all morning." Master Shifu accepted Dad's offer of free bread, and took a seat near the purple haired merchant cat lady, and began ordering drinks.

"So," She glanced down at Shifu. "What will you have?"  
"The usual. The Japanese stuff." Master Shifu then produced a very _large_ bag of yuan from his coat. "How much will this buy me?"  
"Hmmmm!" The cat lady purred with interest and grabbed Master Shifu's sack. I wasn't implying anything, she actually grabbed his money sack. "This will buy you a round for the whole house."

"Oooo!" I perked up, but Shifu began chuckling.  
"I'm not interested in saucing up the rest of the house, Sa-Chi. I'm interested in saucing up _me._" Master Shifu then leaned back as Sa-Chi produced a large pot of steaming … something, from out her giant gourd and set it in front of Master Shifu, who wasted no time in pouring himself a large cup of it.

"So... uh." I began to attempt small talk as I took a seat near Master Shifu. "Your name is, Sa-Chi?"  
"Indeed it is, and you're Dragon Warrior, right?" She responded to me. I felt flattered and puffed out my chest a little.

"Why yes. Yes I am." I spoke with a grin on my face.  
"Enh." She huffed and turned away from me, apparently losing all interest in me that she might, or _should_ have had. "Anyway, Shifu. How long have you been without a drink? Because if I'm not crazy, it looks like that pot is already half empty."

"I would normally suggest that you look at my pot as half-full, to look on the brighter side of things." Shifu said with a grin, then frowned. "However... yes, this is half empty."  
Sa-Chi began to laugh, "Well if you insist on being a fish, then you'll need to fund your hobby."  
"Oh..." I watched Shifu slick back his barely apparent head hair and smile up at the merchant. "Are you sure? Isn't there any way that I could... work out a, how do you say, _discount?_"

The merchant didn't even hesitate to respond, completely ignoring Master Shifu's advances. "Well, you can dis-count ever getting another drink if you don't find some more money, mister."  
I watched Shifu's confidence swiftly fade away from him. Probably first from reject, then I guess from the thought of not being able to out smart a girl for cheaper drinks. I was going to sit up and ask for a drink myself, but I was both strapped for cash, and for ideas on how I would be able to actually get a glass. And judging by how Shifu was sucking the stuff down like it was water, I could assume he wasn't going to be parting with any soon.

I sighed deeply, and gazed down at the floor, or … tried to at least. The fog the Monkey had previously been describing was all over the ground and it was thick enough to hide the floor from sight. I was glad that my Dad kept this place so clean, otherwise someone would trip over something, and possibly get hurt. Thank goodness there was no way for people to complain to a higher power for monetary compensation due to their injuries. That would be lame.

My eyes continued to wander while I waited for Shifu to finish drowning himself in his early morning drinks. I glanced over at Sa-Chi, who was selling her drinks, and other items, like a real professional merchant. A small crowd of ducks, sheep and pigs had gathered around her, and all of them were waving money bags and scrolls in the air in exchange for the miscellaneous goods that Sa-Chi was producing from her magic … pot. She was selling unique and expensive looking things like, polished gold soup ladles. Jade etched kitchen knife sets, decorative folded towels, foreign drinking mugs, and full iron farming tools?

Wow, I don't know how she can fit all that stuff into that giant vegetable shaped backpack but she was certainly making a lot of money. I found myself starting to smile as I watched her sell. She was clearly an older woman, as in, much older than myself, but she was very beautiful. Sa-Chi, the merchant, had an essence about her that made her seem very mysterious and very dangerous at the same time. Kind of like, if Tigress had a step-mom... Yeah, a step-milf.

Sa-Chi had purple hair, and silky brown fur. I couldn't see very much of it, but her soft belly fur stretched from her mouth and all down her front, but it vanished behind her tightly wrapped blue Japanese Kimono. Her hair was cut short and straight across, and mostly covered in a farmer's hat, kind of like Master Crane's. Maybe she was the one who sold Master Crane his hat. Her eyes were twinkling blue, easily able to pierce though anyone who she dared glare at, and she had an accent too. I could tell that she wasn't Chinese, because she was a little taller than most people I've seen, and her voice wasn't exactly Chinese. She had to be Japanese, just based on how she dressed and her mannerisms, but I would have to ask her, or Master Shifu at some point in order to be sure.

"Hey." She said to me from where she was sitting. I wasn't paying attention, but I snapped and responded as quickly as I could.  
"G-geh? What?! Weh … What?! Huh?" I slowly came back to reality. It was hard to stare at a cute girl without losing track of time.  
"Not you." She said, gesturing past me and towards the front door, which I was sitting across from, but I was in the direct line of sight between Sa-Chi and the door.

I slowly turned my head to see a tall, magnificent white wolf standing in the doorway. She was wearing all white from head to toe, and was dressed in ceremonial festival attire. She was completely overdressed to be at my Dad's noodle shop but she didn't look like she even cared. Nearly all her body and clothes were white, but she also had red tattoo's across her fur like she had been dressed by an Imperial Tailor, but decorated and made-up by a tribal shaman. The crimson red streaks and designs across her fur, forehead and clothes suddenly jogged my memory... I had seen her before.

...In Shifu's private wardrobe collection.

This was a woman that Shifu had met before clearly, and I could tell by the way Shifu's eyes suddenly shot open when he turned to see who everyone was staring at.

"You." Sa-Chi continued her sentence, after my long mental aside. "Welcome!"

"Thank you." The white wolf responded kindly, but she looked tired. I stepped up to aide her to a chair, but Shifu had materialized in front of me, which had to be Karma for what I had done to Tigress yesterday, and he seized the white wolfs paw in his own.  
"Ah, Itsuse. It's so good to see you again, please, please. Come sit down next to me."  
"Shifu?" The white wolf glanced down to my master, who was much shorter than she by comparison. "Did you get shorter?"

Sa-Chi began snickering as Shifu's ears drooped. Probably suffering another blow to his ego, and man, if there's anyone that knows how bad it hurts to have your ego assaulted, it's me.

"I... was recently in a battle against my former student. He may have crushed a few of my spinal discs. But enough about me." Shifu attempted to pick up a conversation. "Come sit, and tell me about your.. uh... decade."  
"Decade?" I blurted out, which made everyone in the store look at me like I was crazy. "...what?"

"Uh... son?" My dad walked up to me. "Do you think you can help me in the kitchen for a moment? My uh … secret noodle soup needs the secret ingredient."  
"Secret Ingredient?" Sa-Chi pondered. "Sounds... expensive."  
"Uh yeah. You bet it is!" I stood up, being drug away by my surprisingly powerful father.

Once we got into the kitchen, and the privacy of a single serving window large enough to sunbathe in, my Dad finally pulled my head down to his level so he could talk to me.

"Son! Do you see that woman out there?" My Dad hastily began talking.  
"You mean Sa-Chi? Or the... white... lady? Can I say _White Lady_? Or does that sound insensitive?" I questioned myself.  
"SON!" Dad shouted at me, and I turned to look at him.

"Y-yes?" I was always a little shook when he got loud.  
"Did-you-see-that-woman-out-there?!" He repeated himself, pausing on each word.

"Which one, Dad?"  
"The beautiful one!" He squawked.  
"I..er.. uh..." I didn't know what to say. I turned to glance out of the serving window, to look at Sa-Chi and the white wolf... I think her name was, Itsuse.

"Yes?" I answered. "I see her? I mean, there's two of them out there but... yeah. I see her."  
"Isn't she … Beautiful!" My Dad started exclaiming, while prancing around the kitchen with admiration for … one of the two new, and unique ladies in his shop. His display of emotion would have actually been kind of … cute, if not for the fact that he was waving around a razor sharp meat cleaver the entire time.

"PO!" He turned to me suddenly. "You have to help me, keep her in this store for as long as possible!"  
"Well..." I muttered lightly, thinking to myself. "It is like... Seven Forty. She, whoever … whichever, she is, should be around for a few more hours, right?"

"Oh...Oh, you're right!" Dad nodded sternly, clearly formulating a plan in his head. "Hmm what do to, what to do... How to win the heart of a woman who could just _eat_ your heart? It's a conundrum!"  
"Yeah a... uh... co-nun-drum." I didn't know what a team drumming session had to do with anything, but I turned to leave the shop and noticed that fog was leaking into my Dad's shop from under the front door.

"What in... What is this stuff?" I muttered.  
"It's called... _Daddy needs a new mommy! _You need a new mommy!" My Dad laughed from behind me, like he had already succeeded in whatever he was scheming.  
"...I didn't even know my old mommy." I again muttered, but this time, a lot quieter. I didn't want to bring up old memories of something I was never aware of. But I was growing concerned about what looked like a low hanging cloud, slowly creeping into every house and home in the Valley of Peace.

Monkey said that it was flowing from the _Dragon Hole_ that I had made, so … I guess I should check there first. I desperately wanted Master Shifu to come with me, but he looked too busy giving away all his drinks to the White Wolf, Itsuse, who seemed more capable of drinking than Master Shifu. I made for the exit, practically ignoring my father's wishes and … whatever Shifu's plan might have been, but once I got to the door I was stopped in mid stride.

"You!" The White Wolf called out to me.  
"Him!?" I heard Shifu grunt. "Don't tell him. Tell me! I'm the one buying your drinks!"

Itsuse ignored Master Shifu as she rose to her feet, which were surrounded by seven sweeping white tails that seemed to sway independently of each other. Her feet were bared and her legs were slender and graceful. Even she looked like she could be a Step-Milf, or a Step-G-Milf maybe. I swallowed hard as she approached me, and slowly placed her soft white paws on each side of my face. I exhaled gently, trying not to act too nervous.

"You..." She whispered at me, while Sa-Chi, Master Shifu and the rest of the citizens of the Valley all watched on in awe.  
"Me?" I gasped, feeling a bit turned on by being so close to such a mature, and beautiful woman. I never would have expected what she was going to say next.

Her burning golden and black eyes gazed into mine, deep in my soul and she smoothly said... "You're the one I've been sent here to kill."

Then she totally punched me in the face.


	10. Chapter 10

**[A/N: Su's dream wasn't removed, like all other scenes. Mostly because it's the tamest scene I've written, and the shortest. Additionally, there is a huge difference between Dream Sequences, and FlashBacks. Dream Sequences are orchestrated by the wielder, and will be as fictional and extreme as they can withstand. FlashBacks are visions of the past that can't be altered immediately. FlashBack's reveal the past as it occurred, until it's interrupted by the user. **

**With that, please enjoy Chapter 10. ]**

-10-

_Su . . ._

- - ! - -

"_Nnnnnnnnnnhhh!" I couldn't hold anything back... My entire body had been aching for this since the first time I had met him. All my training, all my punishment, the blur that is my entire life had all been focused towards this very goal, and I knew it. I could feel him, all over me, all inside me, consuming all of me with his dark and powerful embrace._

"_Maaaaaaaaster!" I moaned harder than I've ever moaned before. None of the girls could make me cum this hard. None of the girls could make me sweat this much. None of my girls could make me mewl like a horny bitch for their touch... Only my Master could do that to me, my master... The ShadowMan._

_His hard black dick was pounding into my ass, as he held me up off the ground in the center of my tent. My legs were spread apart and being held wide open by his large black hands. I was leaning back against his chest, and I had no real physical way to anchor myself for the entire time he had been pumping my tail hole. I had been standing around, reading the book he had given me, then like a shadow in the night; he appeared behind me. I had no time to react before he had descended upon me with his strong, masculine lips and kissed me deep. His large black hands tore into my clothes and shredded them to the floor like the rough uneatable skin from a ripe onion. I was naked before him, dripping wet with anticipation and he threw back his large dark cloak to reveal himself to me. He was a giant, chiseled man, covered in muscle, glistening sweat and battle scars. Down, danging seductively between his legs were the biggest thirty inches of cock I had ever seen in my entire life, and before I could drop to my knees, he spun me around and hoisted me off the ground like I only weighed as much as a sack of cotton._

_Then he began penetrating my ass with his giant ribbed cock. His forty inches fit up my ass like a well lubricated finger though the hoop of a wedding ring, and he started fucking me like I was his property. Because I was._

"_Master! Oh god, Master! Master! MASTER!" I moaned more and more, feeling my desire burning through me like fire. The ShadowMan had been visiting me off and on for the last few weeks, and I wanted nothing more than to know what was under his mask. He was like a caped crusader that looked out for me and my ladies, like a Dark Knight in shining fur with a dick the size of a wagon wheel axle. He was still wearing his mask, but I wasn't able to get a hand on it since he was fucking me from behind. My ungloved hands were too busy fiercely rubbing and fingering my pulsing, aching pussy, and dipping back into my own open mouth to even pretend to reach back for his mask._

_It was true, my master the Shadow Man had gotten me so horny, I wanted to simulate what it felt to be triple-penetrated. I had done it before with Song, Wing and Wan, but nothing could compare to the rough, very hard and very sexy sensation of being fucked so hard you go blind. The ShadowMan knew how to fuck me like the whore I always wanted to be. I moaned and arched my back away from his chest as a quaking orgasm suddenly washed over me in the form of a violent and long lasting series of convulsions. _

"_Did you enjoy that my love?" The Shadow Man whispered at me in his deep, sexy Japanese accent. He had spoken to me many times, and each time it was like he was pouring honey out of his own mouth. I could simply eat up each and every word that came from his lips, but I would have never made the first move. He was too mysterious, too dangerous, too … tempting. _

"_Yes, Master. Yes I did!" I was lying to myself. Not only did I make the first move on him... I did enjoy what he was finally giving me, but it wasn't enough. I wanted more. More cock, more sex, more of him. I wanted him naked and ontop of me, or naked and behind me, or naked and fucking fucking me... hard!_

"_Master!" I cried out, and leaned as far backwards as I could to bring my lips to his, kissing him upside down while still being impaled on the long javelin that I was still cumming onto called __**his dick.**_

"_Fuck me harder, Master. Fuck me!" I demanded. And he responded by biting one of my ears and lowering me to the ground. I was barely even able to use my legs as I was let back down onto my own weight. I stumbled and eventually fell over in front of him, with my ass in the air and my tail weakly swaying back and forth, as if trying to fan off my blasted butthole that was leaking with his thick white cum._

"_You want more?" He purred and dropped to his knees behind me, seizing my tail and diving his fingers into my butt.  
"OH! AAH!" I moaned. "Oh yes! Use me how ever you like!"  
"I will." He growled in a deep, predator like way. I trembled, awaiting what he would do next. But I heard him unclipping something, and I turned to see him toss his mask to the floor._

"_Master?" I turned, to look past my own butt and to his face, so I could see it for the first time. I glanced up to the face of a large black lion, smiling and waving his giant dick at me. He spanked my ass with his shaft, that felt like I was being kicked with how much dick he had._

"_Like what you see, Su?" He grinned, slowly penetrating my pussy.  
"OH FUCK!" I couldn't respond, and fell forward while I felt every inch of his nearly fifty inches being forced into me. This must be how the pant legs of the Dragon Warrior's shorts feel when the Dragon Warrior gets dressed. But the difference was, I was being fucked and stuffed at the same time. "MORE MASTER! MORE!" I moaned deeply. "MASTER!"_

_The black lion obliged by spanking my ass, biting the back of my neck, clawing my back and thrusting like a stinging bee, all to make me cum so hard I could nearly feel my own lungs filling with cold tears of passion and lust._

- - ! - -

"Nnnnnnnnh! God... Moree!" I moaned more, rubbing my pussy with a free paw, while rolling my other paw around my lips, about to face fuck myself again. When I realized that all the sudden heat and passion of the moment had somehow vanished from my bed room. I was moments from cumming, but I noticed a figure out the corner of my eye and I turned to see who it was, hoping it was the Shadow Man.

"G-Gah!" I gasped, rolling and falling out of bed. "Christ..." I muttered in embarrassment.  
"Oh no! Are you alright, Lady Su?" I heard, calling out and eventually touching me... That surely wasn't the Shadow Man.

"...Song." I groaned, glaring up at her as she lifted me to my feet. "What are you doing in my tent so early?"  
"Early?" She blinked. "My lady. It's almost eight. The second bell is about to ring. Everyone has been awake since six."  
"Si... Eight?!" I gasped, "I... I over slept?! How is that possible!?"

Song was quiet as I bitched about my predicament, but she glanced past me, and down to where I had landed. She knelt down to pick up the small book I had been reading intently the night before.

"Could this be the reason my lady?" She said, while holding up my book. I was going to snatch it from her hands, but she suddenly began sniffing it, and... for my amusement, I just watched her.

Like a typical feline, Song sniffed to book intently. She glanced over to me for approval, but I smiled and folded my arms, just watching her. She then started to really smell into the book and nuzzle it against her cheeks and face. Probably trying to identify the scent of the owner as best as she could.

"Oh my... This book smells like it belonged to someone of great power." She exhaled deeply, like she was out of breathe.  
"I know. I've been... studying it all night." I said with a chuckle.  
"Is that why you were masturbating, Lady S-" I cut her off.

"Hey! I... was just having a bad dream." I lied... badly.  
"A bad dream? About...?" She questioned.

"The ShadowMan..." I blurted out. "He was here... … uh... Raping me."  
"Oh my...!" Song gasped, and I grinned hoping that my lies were finally panning out.  
"That sounds, hot." She confessed, smelling the book again. "It smells just like him."

"Oh yes, doesn't it?" I grinned and leaned forward to smell the book again to inhale the scent of the ShadowMan, but realized with I was doing and stood up straight; Finally snatching my book from my number two. "Behave, Song. The ShadowMan is meant to be feared, not lusted after."

"You say that." Song giggled, "But... He really makes me wonder what's under that mask."  
"...Song." I sighed.  
"Think about it Lady Su. What if he's a big strong leopard?"  
"Song..." I repeated myself, growing a little irritated.  
"Or a clouded leopard? He would be perfectly compatible with us, my lady!" Song giggled even louder, losing her grip with reality.  
"Song..." I sighed and repeated myself for a third time, nearly losing my patience as Song lost her mind along with her grip...  
"Or a snow leopard! Snow leopards are big, strong and _from what I hear_ hung!"

"**SONG!**" I snarled, pouncing on top of her. We skid across the floor of my tent for a short distance, but she wasn't wounded, just scared.

"L-Lady Su!?" She gasped, and stared up at me with giant, freaked out eyes.  
"HE'S A LION! A BLACK LION! GOT THAT!" I shouted down at her, not sure if I had a grip on reality either.

"Look, I'm sorry." I confessed and sat up. "But you were starting to lose it, and quit paying attention to m-"  
I was cut off by Song suddenly hugging me around my waist, incredibly tightly.

"Lady Su! You're so magnificent!" She squealed, and I gasped out loud.  
"Gah! Girl! Let me go!"  
"Only if you admit how wonderful you are!" Song squealed on even more while hugging me like a rabid fan.

"Oh grow up!" I pushed Song off of me, with far less effort on my part than I thought it would require and peeled myself away from her.  
"Heh heh, sorry Lady Su. Sometimes I just get wrapped up in how amazing I think you are."

I sighed deeply and wandered over to a mirror so I could check myself out, and see what damage I had done to myself from falling asleep without being prepared to do so. I have a strict sleeping regiment that I like to stick to, and if I don't stick to it... I usually have bad things happen. Considering that I was having the best wet dream possible and it was interrupted by the fact that my brain said _I've had enough sleep, time to get up,_ I think my bad luck had already occurred for the day... Hopefully.

"Song... Why do you try and flatter me so much?" I asked idly, not really paying attention to her response. I was too distraught with my appearance. My fur was matted, my eyes were crusty, my lips were dry, my eye brows were messy, my breathe probably stank of garbage, my eyes were partially bloodshot and I was still wearing last nights clothes; that were currently wet with my own horny juices. I needed a bath. The only good thing that I could mention from my current appearance was that I was wearing the shirt that Tetsu had given me.

"Well-" Song started to explain, and would have probably done it in both length and detail, but I didn't really care.  
"You can tell me later... I need to have a bath." I stretched, and gathered new clothes for the morning, making sure to not get a new shirt for myself and made my way to the exit of my tent. Song remained in my tent, on the floor, just watching me as I did my morning routine. As I exited, I turned to see her still sitting. She looked happy, and sad at the same time... It was a pathetic sight.

"Well? What are you doing? Grab that book and follow me, we're having a bath."  
"Together?" She gasped, probably trying to reassure herself.  
"Together." I replied with a sigh. "You're my best Lady, I need you to know what I know. And I need to know what you do, so... come on."

"Y-yes, Lady Su!" Song jumped to her feet and began following me like I had commanded.

The other Ladies of the Shade that were in my camp all waved at me, even though I was nearly two hours late at even getting up. If we were lucky, I would have a mission organized by ten, and we would be executing our plan by noon. With real luck on our side, by about five, my ladies would be returning to camp with their bounty and we would find a merchant to sell to when the time was right. I sighed a little though, thinking about what the Shadow Man, Tetsu, had said to me before. He told me, these women didn't need training... What they needed was protection, a wall... Something to keep our enemies and traders out.

I turned to Song, who was following me intently. "I need you to send out a message, Song."  
"Yes, Lady Su?" She asked, closing the book and looking up at me with her big, smiling eyes.  
"Find Wing and Wan, and have them meet us at the hot tub. We're going to start working towards the future."

"The Future." Song repeated after me. "Find Wing and Wan and meet you at the hot tub." Song nodded, hard. "You can count on me, Lady Su."  
I laughed, trying not to sound too snooty. "Oh, I'm sure I can, my dear. They should only be about fifty feet away anyway. If you found some way to mess this up, I'd have you hug up by your toes."

"Heh heh, I... uh... I'll be back soon!" Song commented, then ran off to go find Wing and Wan. Hopefully they weren't asleep like I was, other they would wake up and pull Song down on top of them and well . . . when that happens, all bets are off. She'll be raped.

Although, I've never known... Is it really rape if you enjoy it? I claimed I was raped but … I certainly enjoyed it.

Fully naked, and submerged in water, I let out a deep exhale. Finally, I was able to relax my body, but my mind was still troubled. I didn't know when Tetsu would come back, but I wanted to be as impressive for him as I could. And if he wanted to see my ladies, surrounded by a wall, then I was going to build a damn wall.

Out of what... I didn't know.

As my thoughts began pouring from both my ears in the forms of worry, doubt and depression, my three subordinates came rushing up to the hot spring, peeling their clothes off like it was spring break. Or at least, two of them were... the third looked exhausted. Wing and Wan, of course were the active, happy and always ready to go types of ladies. Song on the other hand, had certainly fell victim to what I had predicted would happen. Her fur looked matted, and she looked exhausted. I could also tell from here, than her lips were pink, like they were spanked recently... Or pressed up against another Ladies fiercely horny pussy, and ramming it into her face... Ladies like my two dear sisters, Wing and Wan.

Song undressed, and confirmed my suspicion when I could still see the matted outline of her cum leaking down her thighs, and the obvious weakened state of her arms and legs. Without really needing to say anything, I turned to my two sisters who grinned like demons.

"...Really?" I secretly accused them, and each of them grinned and jumped on each side of me, folding their arms behind my back like we were three drinking buddies.

"Oh sister." Wing giggled. "Don't act surprised."  
"Yes, sister." Wan joined in with a laugh. "Little Song had it coming."  
"Mmhmm!" Wing agreed. "She's just so cute when she's begging for us to stop!"

Song blushed as she settled into the water, not looking at me or my sisters.

"Yess, and even when we're licking, stroking and grinding at her. She never tries to run." Wan chuckled and turned to Song. "Just so innocent, you can't help but rape it."  
"Yeah." Wing purred. "Nothing gets me up in the morning, like kissing, and eventually raping a cute Lady."

I rolled my eyes, "I get it. You forced Song into doing what she's secretly wanted to do but refuses to admit _again._ Can we get on with what I want to talk about?"  
Wing grinned at me, still with her full fangs bared. "Is it the ShadowMan? Song mentioned something about him."  
"Oh yeah. She mentioned that you were masturbating dear sister." Wan added in, rubbing my breasts with her free paw. "Was he good?"

"Good? Hardly." I lied again, looking away from them. "He hardly even made me cum."

"She's looking away from us!" Wing was quick to point out, which got Wan laughing.  
"Oh ho? Then she's lying! The Shadow Man _did_ fuck you, didn't he! And he was good!"  
"How good, sister? Tell us!"  
"Yes, tell us!"

My sisters were such sexual deviants, it was a wonder that I was even related to them. If a giant walking cock came though my camp, they would dive on top of it, and enslave it without even asking if it was married.

"Sisters..." I hissed, "Calm down. I will tell you all about the ShadowMan after I reveal what he's told me."

"He was here?" Song gasped.  
"You don't remember?" I shook my head, "Oh right... You were late. Like usual."  
"I-I'm sorry, Lady Su." Song apologized, and walked over to me and my sisters, sitting down in front of me.

"Forget it." I sighed, "Now... When the ShadowMan was here. He told me that we're in grave danger."

"Are we?" Wing spoke up.  
"Not that I know of." I admitted, "But... I want to trust him. I would be heart broken to find out that he's using us, but... for now, we have no reason not to trust him."  
"We don't? We don't even kn-" Song started to talk, but Wan cut her off in mid sentence.

"Heart Broken?" Wan chuckled. "Are you _in-love _with the Shadow Man, dear sister?"  
I sighed deeply, "Moving—on! He said that we should construct a wall around our camp to keep out our enemies."

"...A... wall?" Wing blinked.  
"A wall...?" Wan pondered.

"You know... A wall?" Song spoke. "Kind of like a fence, just... really big, and really strong? It keeps stuff out."  
"Like... Vagrants?" Wing questioned.  
"Yeah? I guess?" Song shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? Right, Lady Su?"

"Yes... " I exhaled deeply. "I don't know why the concept of a wall has escaped my sex hungry sisters, but... at least you understand me Song."

"I try my best, Lady Su." She bowed, accidentally planting her face into the hot tub water, forcing herself to flail suddenly and spit water everywhere while complaining about how much she hates water in her face.

"Heh," Wing grinned. "You don't seem to mind cum on your face."  
"Yeah, Song." Wan added, as expected. "Or pussy." She purred.

"That's different!" Song whined at my sisters, and I held my paws over my face.

"I'm surprised we've lasted this long." I exhaled once more, and set my attention to Song.

"So." I started talking, "Have you read any of the book, the Shadow Man gave me, Song?"  
"Oh? The book?" Song nodded. "I've … read a little, but not much. I've only had it in my possession for about thirty minutes, and... I was being … uh... borrowed, for almost twenty of those minutes, Lady."

I closed my eyes, settling back into the water as my sisters let me go to go sit with Song.  
"Oh I know." I muttered. "I was soaking for a little while before you got here. I assumed that you had been convinced to wake my sisters in the way they prefer."

"Well... you see." Song started to stammer, as Wan and Wing began to kiss at her again, but I sat up, cutting off their foreplay.

"Ladies!" I shouted, making the three of them turn to me in shock for a moment. "We need a wall. That way, we can establish a real base!" I commanded.

Wing nodded, with the same crazy grin on her face. "I think you're right Sister. With a wall, we could be more protected"  
"We would _actually_ be protected." Wan added. "I never feel safe at night, if we don't go to sleep with someone else close by."  
"Me either." Wing responded, making the both of them laugh.

"Well, a wall would defend us, and we could start working on other things too, you know." Song began to speak.  
"Other things?" I pondered. "What do you mean, Song?"

"Yes, Song." Wing jumped in.  
"What other thingssss?" Wan, hissed.

"W-well..." Song stuttered, now that she was in the spot light. "I... thought that we could focus on other things that may not be so … Illegal. Perhaps we could try crafting? Or Trading? That Trader Lady seemed happy."  
"You... saw her?" I questioned,

"Well once but not..." Song paused, "Recently."

"I see." I let out a deep sigh. "Well... How much do you know about _crafting,_ Song?"  
"I can sew really well!" She quickly blurted out. "And I'm a really good cook. I can also sing, as well as dance. Although everyone can dance, and I can-" I cut her off.

"Whoa whoa, Song. Don't get ahead of yourself, my dear. We _all_ have to have our own craft, remember? If we were going to start becoming honest workers of the land... I think all of us would need to agree on your ideas."  
"W-would we? Really?" She blinked. "I thought as the leader, that you... That we could-"  
"What?" I began to laugh. "You thought that I would just up and quit being a thief, just so we can avoid going to jail? Hah!"

"Ah hahaha!" Wing and Wan laughed in unison... kind of. "Hahaha!"

"B-but but..." Song looked back and forth between me, and my sisters. "But... What about what the Shadow Man said? He didn't tell us to get stronger, he told us to defend ourselves. What better way to be strong, than to have inner strength? Waiting for a merchant isn't a promising way to make money! And most merchants don't want stolen goods!" Song began to argue with me. This is probably the first argument I've ever had with her.

"What?!" I shouted. It may be the first argument, but I was damn sure going to win it. "What do you mean!? Merchants are all cut purses, cut throats, and bloody thieves themselves! Mostly _all_ of their merchandise is stolen goods, Song! Why else do you think merchants travel so much? Because they harvest from one part of the land, and run to the next!"  
"T-that's not completely true! I'm sure there are some honest merchants out there!"  
"Name one! Name just one!" I splashed accidentally, trying to slam my fist down. Instead I splashed all four of us, suddenly realizing how much I hated being shot in the face with water.

"Jesus God, that's terrible!" I bitched.  
"Gah I know, I know!" Wan complained.  
"Gaaah! It's so bad!" Wing grunted.  
"I hate being splashed in the face!" Song whined. "But... My point still stands! There are good merchants!"

"You never named one!" I countered while wiping off my face. "Name one!"  
"That... That japanese fox merchant! He's got like a hundred tails!"  
"Oh yeah?" I cleaned off my eyes and whiskers. "Was he offering cheap deals on good products?"

Song went quiet for a minute.

"See!" I cut in. "Then he was a crooked thief, and was probably selling stolen wares!"  
"Okay... Look. I'll never know for certain!" Song admitted, "But Lady Su! We don't have to be thieves! We can be honest ladies of the land!"  
"Ladies of the Land?" I scoffed. "Have you any idea how ridiculous that sounds, Song? You can't be a _lady of the land_ and make any progress in the world! All the famous females, all _fought_ their way to power!"

"W-what?!" Song shook her head in confusion.  
"Master Tigress of the Jade Palace." I named, counting off on my fingers. "Mei-Ling of the Lee-Da Kung-Fu Academy in Sun-Lo! What about, FengHaung or Ming-Lao of the Furious Five? They were all women, and they were all powerful!"  
"What about the lady merchant that came here last night? She might have been straight."

"Heh." I grinned, "No woman is straight, that would be insane."

Wing and Wan started giggling, the first reaction I'd received from them in nearly five minutes, or since the argument has started.

"But Song, darling." I stood up and walked forward to touch Song's face. "There are no women, who are alive in this world, that aren't riding on the backs of their men, or fighting for their position. We _cannot_ be innocent ladies. We have to take charge and take what we want."

Song sighed, looking down into the swirling hot tub waters. "Well Lady Su." She looked up at me. "I don't want any of us to be captured and put in prison... Or put to death."

"Oh, my little Song." I pulled her in towards me, hugging her naked and wet body against my naked and wet body. "That will never happen, as long as we stay together as a family."

"A Family...?" She repeated after me, and I nodded. Hoping to reassure her as best I could.  
"A family!" Wan and Wing jumped up to join into the hug, turning it from a regular—to a group hug.

"Now that we agree that we're a family. There is a second order of business I wish to discuss." I broke up the hug, and began to wander towards the edge of the hot tub to seize the book I had left in Song's care.  
"What is it, Lady Su?" Song asked.

"There is an artifact that I want, that will grant us with infinite power... But getting to it will be difficult." I admitted, now flipping though the book with my, surprisingly, dry fingers.  
"Difficult?" Wan scoffed.  
"Nothing is difficult if we work together, sister." Wing chipped in.  
"Yes, we're a family, Lady Su." Song spoke up as well. "Where is the target, and what is it?"

"Where?" I said with a grin, pointing off into the very far away distant mountain that could just barely be recognized. "Somewhere … in that... cloudy... foamy, pillar shaped region."

"What?" Wing and Wan barked out in confusion.  
"Is... That where the Jade Palace is?" Song blinked twice. "That's the Jade Palace right? Because it looks like a mound of white rice covered in cream from back here."

"Yeah, it does." I admitted, scratching my head. "Must be a fog that rolled in, but... Regardless, yes. The Jade Palace is where the target is... And this, is what we're after."

I then turned and held open the book, Tetsu, had left behind. The page I had opened to was decorated with a large illustration of what looked like a giant, forearm length wrist bracer. It was etched to great detail in the book, and my three Ladies all gazed at it in amazement, but Song was the first to speak.

"It's beautiful but … What is it?" She asked.

"It's called _The Dragon Gauntlet._" I said, pointing at the name in the book. "It's written in Japanese but I can... still read it."  
"When did you learn Japanese?" Song asked.  
"We all know Japanese." I answered, pointing at Wing, Wan and myself. "All three of us know it, and other languages."

"Wow." Song blinked. "I'm impressed. But... Lady Su, what does this _Dragon Gauntlet_ do?"  
"Apparently, it gives the power to wield Ice, and... greatly increases the abilities of the wearer." I revealed, while closing the book and setting it on dry land, that thankfully was never a myth, even though me and my ladies had been in a hot tub for nearly fifteen minutes.

"Wow..." Wan nodded. "It's pretty Sister but … How do we find it?"  
"Yes yes." Wing followed as usual. "The Jade Palace is so large... how do we find it?"

"That's the brilliant point." I answered, stepping out of the hot tub, and flexing my muscles. "We won't. We'll steal something that's precious to the owner, and ransom it for the gauntlet."

I then turned to Song, Wing and Wan, still completely naked. "I want you three to head to the Valley of Peace, and scout the living SHIT out of that place. Find the Jade Palace, and find out what the master values as massively important... Then, we steal it, and just wait for that gauntlet to be hand delivered to us..." I began to grin, far more sinister than either of my sisters could ever pull off.

"Then... _nothing_ will be able to stop us."

. . .

. . .

. . . Then I may be impressive enough for Tetsu... and strong enough to face my greatest fear.

. . .

. . .

. . . Hopefully.

_Mei-Ling..._

"So... Really?" I sighed. "Nothing? Nothing at all?" My series of questions was getting me no where.  
"Nope." Wonton shook his head. "I don't know anything about any dog women."

"Crap..." I mumbled under my breath.  
"Sorry, Mei-Ling." He nervously laughed. "I only know so much about... recent, Assassin History."  
"I know, I know." I nodded and sat back down on the bamboo bar-stool he had provided me. "I just wish everything wasn't so … complicated."

"Things can get complicated when you're unprepared." Wonton nodded. "Like when I moved out of my Village to live on my own. I was confused for a long, long time."  
"Yeah?" I glanced up to him, smiling sweetly. "How did you manage on your own?"

"Sheer luck for the most part, and my savings. I made a lot of money to keep for myself when I lived with my family in the artisan village. The Rin Clan is a pretty large and industrious family."  
A small explosion suddenly went off in my mind when I heard his last name again. "The RIN Clan! Aaaah, how could I be so … dumb!"

"Hmm?" He turned to me. "What's the matter?"  
"I've heard of the Rin Clan! Most of the training Equipment for the Lee-Da Kung-Fu Academy were made by the Rin Clan!" I admitted with an even bigger smile on my face.

"Is that so?" Wonton was grinning down at me.  
"Oh yeah. Man... Oh man did I break a _lot_ of those training dummies!"

"Did you?" The panda began to laugh. "I thought our tools were of the highest quality. Hopefully you weren't breaking them with little effort."  
"After a while, it's hard to find a material that's unbreakable." I began to gloat. "I was strong enough to chop through solid stone when I was only nineteen."  
"Really?" Wonton began to stroke his chin. "If... you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"  
"Twenty Nine." I answered hastily, not even certain if I got my own age right. But, why should he know... When I don't even know.

"Well, then." He turned away from me, and back to his large map. "You must have really benefited from my family's tools. I'm glad to hear it!"

I was nodding, but … his words of praise weren't my primary concern right now. Ordinarily, I would be trying to tease him to find out more information about my targets. But, as far as I knew, Master Tigress didn't know a single thing about Tai-Lung, so that angle was partially unusable. But Wonton here was a wealth of information, I think I just need to start asking the right questions. One of those questions began to come to mind as I examined the giant map that Wonton was examining.

"Hey." I spoke up. "How come you have an Assassin Hide Out map on your wall?"  
"Mostly to see if anyone would recognize what it was." He answered me without missing a beat.

"Wha? R-really?" I stammered, feeling like I had walked into a trap of some sort.  
"Well yeah." He said, turning back to me smiling. "I mean, you wear the Assassin's clothes, and you clearly know of their codes and methods. So I would assume you knew what the map was, and what it's used for."

I began answering without even really being asked. "It's for quickly locating hide-outs and safe houses for Assassins. So if anyone got lost, they can find a safe place to stay for a night, and heal if necessary."  
"Very true." Wonton said with a nod. "I'm fairly certain that the man, who escaped the Assassins, used one of these maps to guide himself safely through Mongolia and into China."  
I laughed, "Heh, you're sure about that? What makes you so sure he didn't just run like hell, and stop by any house he found?"  
Wonton laughed as well. "Doesn't that just sound insane? Who in their right mind would do that to themselves and their child, on purpose?"

"Hehe, I'm not certain." I exhaled and glanced at the map, examining the locations that had been highlighted. It was an incredibly old map, because the one I had in my pack had plenty more points of interest revealed. Whereas this map was hardly even filled.

"So..." I looked up at him. "Can I ask you a serious question?"  
"Haven't you been doing that all morning?" He asked me with a smile. I blushed a little, not wanting to waste his time.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry." I apologized, and began to leave, but he reached forward and grabbed my paw to stop me from leaving the desk.

"I was kidding." He said with a smile.  
"Oh, heh." My brown eyes began streaking around the room, hardly able to contain my embarrassment.

"Well, you can ask me anything. I'll try to answer as best I can." Wonton stretched his arms in front of me, and began to walk to the front door. "Although if you don't mind. I'm going to leave the book here and try to reference from my own brain. I need to train."  
"Train?" I asked out loud. "You train? I didn't think you ..." I shook my head, cutting myself off.

"Yeah, I don't do Kung-Fu, but I still believe in physical fitness." He responded and exited out the front door.

I stood by myself at the front desk for a moment, and turned to follow him. But I paused when I heard something behind me. Without wasting a moment, I spun in place and produced a dagger from my robe, but … there was no one behind me, even though I was very sure I heard the sound of a foot step.

I scanned the floor from where I was standing, but … didn't see anything. With a shrug, I exited the inn to follow Wonton to the rear of the building. He clearly hadn't put in a back door yet.

I found him in what looked like a Zen Garden, complete with giant stones and some light shrubbery. Wonton was standing in the middle of the the sand garden, with a large rock in front of him. It looked like it could easily weigh about 400 pounds, which was probably five times heavier than what I weighed.

"Are you trying to move, or lift that rock, Wonton?" I asked, curiously.  
"Lift." He responded quickly, while twisting his upper torso to pop his back, and rolled his shoulders to get himself loose.  
"Wow... That's a lot of weight you know."

"Oh, I know." Wonton chuckled. "But that wasn't really your question now, was it?" He asked me, while bending forward to seize the large stone in both hands.  
I could barely even think of my question as I admired his well toned ass. His round, firm butt looked so deliciously inviting while he bent forward to apparently feel up this rock. Because when he stood up, he didn't strain or grunt, because the rock wasn't even in his grip.

"So, how are you going to lift it?" I asked, very curious now.

"Not with my back, I can tell you that." He replied and knelled down this time, again seizing the rock in his paws.  
"Wow, you really are going to-" I stopped talking as the rock suddenly went sailing into the air, up to Wonton's now fully flexed chest. I felt very hot, watching him raise this four hundred pound rock up out of sand and above his head. He was panting a bit now, clearly showing fatigue and strain, but he didn't really look like he was struggling to keep his balance, or the weight up. Like... he does this daily. For fun!

"Oh my! Wow!" I gasped, and he began pumping the boulder above his head a few times while counting off in Japanese. Each word that passed from his lips made my heart beat. It was hard for me not to grow moist when I witnessed feats of great strength. Even hearing about Tai-Lung's achievements made me swoon whenever I heard about them. Wonton reached, ten, and threw the stone to the ground in front of him. It hit the ground with impressive force, enough the make the sand ripple away from the boulder like it was a simple coin in a wishing well. I even felt the shockwave of the mighty stone shake my feet when it hit solid ground.

"Ah, I feel better." Wonton stretched a few times, popping some unpopped joints that he apparently didn't catch before.  
"I bet you do." I grinned, trying not to look too horny for him, even though I clearly was at this point. "I can't imagine lifting that much weight without being in trouble."  
"Adrenaline is nice, but it has nothing to do with lifting. It's all about focus, dedication … and well..." Wonton began blushing. I'd never seen him do that before, and it was cute.

I ran up to him like a school girl and tugged on his arms. "Oh tell me! Tell me! What is it?!"  
"Whoa!" He chuckled. "It's well..." He glanced away from me, still blushing. "Well... Heavy lifting is a bit of a... passion of mine."

"Passion?" I leaned towards him, grinning. "Does that also mean... Fetish?"  
Wonton blinked a few times. "Lifting?" He chuckled. "Oh no, that's not my fetish at all. I just _really_ like lifting heavy objects."

I … felt like an idiot again, thinking that I'd discovered something that made this Panda hot under the collar... Even though he didn't wear a shirt.

"My fetishes are actually a little more _extreme _than that, to be honest." He said, making my ears perk up in interest.  
"Oh really?" I grinned, leaning even closer to him than I was previously. "Mind to … share with me?"  
"Maybe." He grinned back, clearly showing interest in me now. "Maybe I'll reveal some things that I find … interesting, after you finally ask me that question you had boiling in your mind."

I began to laugh and took a step back. It was hard for me to control myself sometimes if I thought that I'd be able to spend some quality time with an impressive partner, like Master Tigress and my friend Crane. So now I was searching though my brain to find that question that I _so_ wanted to ask on a few moments ago.

"Oh!" I suddenly remembered. "I wanted to ask you... Do, you know anything about … a … Gauntlet?"

…

Wonton's, usually happy, expression suddenly shifted to a serious one. He turned to me with no real presence of a smile on his cheeks any more. "What kind of _Gauntlet_?" He asked very sternly.

I swallowed, not sure if I'd over stepped my boundaries somehow. I remember being specifically informed to _never_ ask about a Gauntlet, but I thought it would be harmless to bring it up with Wonton.  
"Well you see," I tried to formulate a lie. "I … I want to know more about Legendary Artifacts."

"Anyone asking about a Gauntlet, is usually an evil Master Mind or working for an Evil Master Mind..." Wonton sighed at me, and folded his arms, now staring down at me like I was an unattractive disappointment.  
"I'm not an Evil Master Mind!" I confessed. "I just know that Tai-Lung had some armor and I thought..."  
"You thought that the Leopard Gauntlet..." Wonton lowered his posture and began to laugh. "You thought... Hah!" He began to laugh out loud, making me uncomfortable, because now I wasn't sure if he was relieved that I was talking about the wrong thing, or if he was amazed by my stupidity, because I was asking about the wrong thing.

"Well," Wonton chuckled. "I guess I can rule out the factor that you're looking for the Assassin Gauntlet."  
"The... Assassin Gauntlet? The Leopard Gauntlet wasn't an-"  
"No, of course not!" Wonton cut me off. "It was basically a giant metal glove that someone gave to Tai-Lung when he was a boy. It reinforced his right hand so he could punch harder, but he never actually used it when he got older."

"Really?" I blinked. "So it's nothing important?" I pondered, and Wonton patted my head as he approached me.  
"Think nothing of it. I'm just relieved that you're not evil. I know you wear the clothes, but I also know not all Assassin's are evil."

I smiled up at him, thankful that he trusted me, since I meant him no harm but... I was still a bit confused.  
"So," I began. "If it wasn't legendary or enchanted... Why is the Leopard Gauntlet in the Hall of Warriors? Like the Sword of Heroes, and the Invisible Trident of Destiny?"

"Well first of all," Wonton chuckled. "The Invisible Trident of Destiny has never been seen by a living soul of this era... Secondly, it's true the Leopard Gauntlet isn't enchanted, but it's in the Hall of Warriors because Master Shifu values Tai-Lung's artifact as a very important relic and an important part of his life."  
"Oh, I see." I nodded. "So it was a memento."  
Wonton nodded in response. "Yep. It was important to him, to he kept it around. He kept items from all his friends of the past."

"I see. So... Why are the Assassin Gauntlets, so bad?" I asked Wonton, trying to keep his interest.  
"Well..." He rubbed his chin. "They're probably the only enchanted items in history that are actually aligned."  
"Aligned? Like... Balance?"  
"Somewhat," He gestured with his paws in a flat handed, waving motion. "Well, you know an item can't actually be considered _Good _or _Bad_ unless they remain in the presence of someone truly holy or dark for an extended period of time? And even then, the item just basically confuses people who use it."

I nodded swiftly, "Yes. I know what you're talking about. Some of those items I have seen before, and they can be cleansed, right?"

"Yes." He nodded and began looking past me. "But... These Gauntlets are the only things I've ever heard of, that can actually _make_ someone, Evil."  
"They can...?" I gasped. "How is that possible?"

Wonton shook his head and explained as best he could. "I'm not fully certain, but they're relics of the past that only the dark and twisted actually want to get their paws on. It's rumored that the Gauntlets have the ability to insanely increase the power of their wielders and slowly turn them into savage murder machines, able to fight off entire armies with their perfect mix of power and chi mastery."  
"I've never heard of them before..." I gazed off in the distance too, not sure I could understand the power behind the legend. "And you say they're evil?"

"Assassin Kings and Queens from centuries ago possessed the Gauntlets, and for thousands of years they've been lost."  
"Wow," I shook my head in disbelief. "How many Gauntlets are there?"  
"I'm not certain. I've heard that there are one for each type of chi."

"So..." I began counting in my head, thinking of all the chi... Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Earth, and Gravity. "That means there's... six?"

"Seven, as far as I know." Wonton corrected me, folding his arms.  
"Seven?" I repeated. "What did I forget."

"Death." He answered, closing his eyes. "The super rare, reactionary Kokou Chi, Jaws of Death."  
"But... I thought that was a myth."  
Wonton shook his head. "Oh no, Kokou chi is very real. It's just rare... Most people don't even know they have it. Heh, I could even have it."

"Really?" I gasped.  
"Nah," He responded. "No one in my family has chi powers. So it wouldn't be right for me to have any." He then started to laugh.

"Oh, I see." I scratched the back of my head, with a laugh. Slightly surprised that Wonton didn't actually think of the additional chi that focused around the mind. It was technically the counter to Kokou Chi, but is was even rarer... As far as I knew, I was the only person that had the incredibly rare, Shiro Chi. It meant _White_ but it represents life, or the aspect of a new life, where Kokou represents the end of life.

"So..." I began to approach Wonton again, now being out of _real_ questions to ask him. "Mind telling me about those... Fetishes of yours?"  
The panda glanced down at me, and started to blush a little and bared his fangs as he grinned. "Still interested are you?"  
"Very." I answered with a very commanding tone to my voice.

"Well..." He stepped towards me. "I suppose I could share one with you."  
I began to giggle, "Is it kinky?"  
"Perhaps." He responded, "How strong is your grip?"

Without hesitation, I stepped forward to press my breasts against his abs and I grabbed his package through his pants with a paw, giving it a good gentle, but firm, squeeze.  
"Hmm... You tell me."  
He grinned. "Try higher and harder."

I raised an eyebrow, but I didn't question him. I raised my paws up to his nipples and grabbed them.  
"Gah-" He laughed. "Higher, and harder."

I swallowed for a minute, not exactly sure what he wanted but I slowly shifted my paws up to his neck and gripped at his throat.  
"Here...?" I nervously asked, and he nodded.  
"This... is one of the things that I tend to enjoy." He admitted to me as he leaned his head back.

"C-choking?" I coughed from shock, unable to believe it at first. But he grinned down at me and nodded.  
"I guess it is a little kinky isn't it?"  
"A little?" I stepped up to him and slowly began to pull his face towards mine so I could steal a kiss... But suddenly we heard a crash and shout from his store.

"What in?!" Wonton gasped and charged away from me to the front of his store. I gave chase, hoping not to miss what ever was happening.

As me and Wonton rounded the corner to the front of the store, we barely got a glimpse of a black figure darting out the front door of Wonton's Inn. I was going to take off after it, but the door to Wonton's inn shot open and a large female panda came barreling out the door with a large black club in her paws.

"WHERE YOU RUNNING TO?! SCARED?!" She shouted out loud, clearly upset with whatever had happened, but she looked unharmed. When she turned to me and Wonton the gasped and jumped back for a second. But she didn't really lose her composure.

"Hey... Did you guys just see that thief?"  
"Thief!?" Wonton groaned. "Crap... What did she steal?"  
"It looked like a giant map, when I saw it." She told us, and Wonton lowered his head in dread.

"Awwww... My map." He exhaled deeply.  
"D-don't worry Wonton! I'll go and get the map back for you!" I told him, and turned to give chase.

"No... Don't bother." Wonton told me, grabbing me by the back of my cloak. Somehow, I couldn't break away from him, no matter how hard I tried... He was truly an impressively powerful panda.  
"Hey, sorry I couldn't stop her." The female panda said as she approached me and, the now forlorn, Wonton.

"It was a woman?" I perked up, examining the Panda as she approached. She was big woman, but quite toned for her body type. She was colored like a standard Giant Panda, but she had a very cute and attractive face. Her muscles were less apparent than Wonton's but I bet she could easily pick up and toss a drunken fat man if she ever had to. And her voice was tough and powerful, kind of like Master Tigress.

"Yeah. It was a girl. She was stuffing the map in her coat when I walked in, and she turned to me and started hissing like a pissed off snake." The panda began explaining.  
"Like a snake?!" I shook my head. "Why the hell would someone do that? Was she a nut case?"  
"She was probably a rock biter... Or a moron, I'm not sure." The female panda shrugged. "But, in all honesty; she hissed because she was a snake."

"A... snake?" I gasped. "A snake? That tall?"  
"Yeah, right? She walked on two legs and had two arms... But there was no way that she _wasn't_ a snake."

"Could you see her face?" Wonton suddenly asked, interrupted me and the lady panda.  
"No." The panda answered, and gestured to her face. "She was wearing a black mask that made her whole face look like someone had turned out the lights."

"Damn." Wonton sighed again. "An Assassin done took my map."  
"Assassin?" The panda blinked. "For real?"  
"Yep." Wonton stood up straight and shook his head. "Damn. I probably should have secured that map with some resin."

"Resin?" The panda looked confused.  
"It's a really powerful glue." He answered and scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry ma'am, I never properly introduced myself."

"It's fine." She answered.  
"Well, still, I like to do things properly." He bowed in front of the lady panda, and... I'd be lying if I didn't find myself getting a little jealous. "My name is Wonton Rin." He rose and extended a paw to shake.  
"Wonton Rin?" The panda responded. "I-I'm Li-Tang. But … Wonton Rin? You from the Rin Clan?"  
"Yeah." He replied, with a smile as Li-Tang firmly shook his hand.

"Hey, I'm apart of your trade group! I'm from the crafting Village, you're from the Artisan Village and trade with the Farming Village right?"

"Well, yeah. Actually, we do." Wonton began to laugh. "Wow, you're form the Crafting Village? That's very cool. It's good to meet you Li-Tang."  
Li-Tang laughed like a tom-boy and nodded, "Yeah. It's nice to meet you as well."

"Oh." Wonton turned and pointed to me, "This is also one of my friends. Her name is Mei-Ling. She's from Sun-Lo."  
"Sun-Lo … The Slum Town?" Li-Tang questioned me, and I grew embarrassed again.

"Yep, that's Sun-Lo." It was embarrassing to admit that Sun-Lo was a shit hole... but I'd by lying if I didn't. "We're not known for our luxury, location or gene pool out there. Honestly, the best thing I can say about Sun-Lo is that we're closer to Mongolia than most villages and settlements."

"Yeah, and it's never actually cold there." Li-Tang laughed. "But I don't blame you for where you come from. It's all about where you're going."  
Wonton nodded, "Yeah. I agree. Speaking of which... Where are you heading, Miss Li-Tang?"

Li-Tang waved a paw to dismiss the formalities. "Oh don't call me that. Just call me Li-Tang."  
Wonton chuckled, "Okay then, Li-Tang. Do you mind if I ask where you're headed?"  
"To the Valley of Peace." She told us, "I'm on my way there from the south. Which way should I be heading now?"

"West." I quickly answered, wanting to be apart of the conversation. Watching Li-Tang steal all of Wonton's attention was actually … painful, for some reason. Maybe it was my ego, but a taller, stronger looking woman of the same breed as the guy I had been hitting on for the last hour had just appeared from no where, and she was massively making head way when it came to making him pay attention to you. It wasn't nearly this hard to get Tigress to pay attention to me, and even less harder than Crane!

"To the west?" Li-Tang repeated after me. "Is it far? Should I take a break somewhere?"  
"Well, this is an Inn. You can relax here for a little while if you're interested." Wonton told the woman, making my jaw drop.

"But... The Valley isn't... it isn't far!" I blurted out.  
"Well that's good." Li-Tang turned to Wonton. "But I think I'd like to relax here for a while. You know, in case that snake bitch comes back."

Both pandas began laughing and entered the inn, leaving me standing outside. I suppose I didn't really need to be guided by hand, but it felt … odd, to lose someone's favor. I was usually always the head of my class and the center of attention... Usually. I was even able to garner more attention than Tigress amongst her closest friends, but here I was losing out to a panda... Although I shouldn't be upset. Li-Tang is a knock out. She's probably cuter than Tigress.

I stepped forward to lean into the entrance of Wonton's inn. As much as I hated to just up and leave and let be what may... I knew I had a mission and I knew I had to get back to it. As I leaned into the room, I could detect the scent of a snake... Li-Tang wasn't lying, and I could smell the very distinct scent of leather too, the same leather that our Assassin outfits were made from, my mission would probably be more difficult from this moment on.

"Hey, Wonton." I called out to him. He turned to me with a half-smile as he got to his desk.  
"Yeah?" He glanced up, thumbing through his book. "Thank god this wasn't taken. This is basically my life's work right here."

"For real? Can I see?" Li-Tang started talking, and I sighed, figuring that this is what it would be like if this woman was planning on hanging around Wonton.  
"Sure." He answered her and handed over his giant tome. "What's up Mei-Ling?"

"I uh..." I sighed, "I'm going to head out. I've got some stuff to do, and … and if I see that woman. I'll be sure to get your map back okay?"  
"Hey, don't worry about it. Assassin's are dangerous after all." He told me, gesturing to Li-Tang as he did so. It took me a moment to understand what he was doing, but I finally put it together as he winked at me, and waved me good-bye.

I guess I was wrong about Wonton. I slowly backed away from the door and began walking the path that would take me back to the Valley of Peace.

Here I was thinking that all of Wonton's attention was being sucked up by this new panda girl. But when he winked at me, it became apparent that he actually just wanted me to take off, since I was dressed like an Assassin too. And if Assassins were both hanging out with the owner, and robbing the owner's place of business, it would be _bad_ for business. Wonton was a smart guy. Very kind, very cute and very masculine, and apparently very selfless too. I had no idea what it would be like to get closer to him, but the possibility of it started to become more and more interesting to me the more I thought about it.

Perhaps if I could track down this snake woman, I could gain enough attention to get Wonton to let me choke him again... and hopefully more.

And perhaps he could enlighten me as to why a snake … has a bi-pedal body.


End file.
